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Queen Victoria. 



Frontispiece 



ECLECTIC SCHOOL READINGS 

THE 
STORY OF THE ENGLISH 



BY 

/ 
H. A. GUERBER 



>>@<c 



NEW YORK •:• CINCINNATI •:■ CHICAGO 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY 



I 



THE LIBRARY 
OF CONGRESS 

WASHINGTON 



891 



Copyright, 1898, by 
AMERICAN BOOK COMPANY. 



A II rights reserved. 



STORY OF THE ENGLISH. 
W. P. I 




TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 

\CVD^S^ 



198 



PREFACE 



>^C 



Down to the colonial period, if not to the Revolutionary War, 
English history concerns American children just as much as it 
does their brothers and sisters who speak the same language on 
the other side of the broad Atlantic. It is therefore very impor- 
tant that our boys and girls should as soon as possible become 
familiar with its salient events. 

To interest them in their own race, introduce them to their 
mother country, and make the past as vivid as possible, charac- 
ters, customs, and places have in this book been depicted princi- 
pally through anecdotes, many of which have become classical, 
although not all are admitted into works intended for more ma- 
ture minds. 

The gradual evolution of English law, the growth of liberty, 
and the various changes in religion are as unintelligible as unin- 
teresting to the average child ; so they have been touched upon 
very briefly, and in the most simple way. 

The principal object has been to make pupils so familiar 
with the prominent characters of English history that these shall 
henceforth seem like old acquaintances, and, in addition, to use 
every device to make history so attractive to youthful minds as to 
rouse their enthusiasm and stimulate them to further study. 

Although all the main facts have been given, least space has 
been allotted to modern times. That is not only because many 

5 



of the events which have occurred within the past two centuries 
are more difficult of comprehension, but because any intelligent 
child is sure to have them brought to his or her notice in other 
books. For that reason, also, the wars in America are merely 
mentioned, and pupils are referred to United States histories for 
detailed accounts of them. 

To enrich young minds and to emphasize the need of patient 
endeavour, courage, faithfulness, gentleness, truthfulness, and all 
other desirable qualities, all that is good has been heartily com- 
mended, and all that is base or dishonourable has been made to 
appear in an unfavourable light. Nevertheless, it has also been 
the writer's aim to cultivate a spirit of fairness and charity towards 
all men. 

Much reading and research stand back of this little book, and 
the author is indebted to historians, biographers, novelists, poets, 
and artists for the material of which it is composed. It is with 
the hope that the road to literature and history will seem easier 
and more attractive, after the way has been made somewhat 
smoother by these little paving stones, that this book is placed 
before the public. 



The pronunciation of difficult proper names has been indicated 
in the text, in order to make easier the reading of the book, and 
to prevent the formation of incorrect habits of pronunciation. 
The symbols used for this purpose are self-explanatory in most 
cases; the diacritical marks are explained on p. 343. Besides 
this, the pronunciation of all proper names is more fully indicated 
by diacritical marks in the index. 



CONTENTS. 



>>*<< 



I. 


Early Times . 










ii 


II. 


The Druids . 










13 


III. 


The Britons . 










17 


IV. 


Caesar in Britain 










21 


V. 


Queen Boadicea 










24 


VI. 


The Great Walls 










26 


VII. 


The Great Irish Saint 










29 


VIII. 


The Anglo-Saxons 










3* 


IX. 


Brave King Arthur . 










34 


X. 


The Laws of the Saxons 










36 


XI. 


The Story of St. Augustine 










38 


XII. 


Three Great Men 










. 41 


XIII. 


The Danish Pirates . 










. 42 


XIV. 


King Alfred and the Cakes 










. 46 


XV. 


Alfred conquers the Danes 










. 49 


XVI. 


A King's Narrow Escape . 










• 53 


XVII. 
XVIII. 


The King and the Outlaw 
The Monasteries 










• 55 

• 57 


XIX. 


An Unlucky Couple . 










• 58 


XX. 


St. Dunstan 










61 


XXI. 


King Canute and the Waves 










■ 63 


XXII. 


A Saxon Nobleman . 










• 67 


XXIII. 


Lady Godiva's Ride . 

7 










• 70 



XXIV. The Battle of Hastings 

XXV. The Conquest 

XXVI. Lords and Vassals 

XXVII. Death of William 

XXVIII. The Brothers' Quarrels 

XXIX. Arms and Armour 

XXX. The " White Ship " . 

XXXI. Matilda's Narrow Escapes 

XXXII. The Story of Fair Rosamond 

XXXIII. Thomas a Becket 

XXXIV. The Murder of Thomas a Becket 
XXXV. Richard's Adventures . 

XXXVI. Richard and the Saracens 

XXXVII. The Faithful Minstrel . 

XXXVIII. Death of Richard 

XXXIX. The Murder of Arthur 

XL. The Great Charter 

XLI. The Weak Rule of Henry III 

XLII. A Race 

XLIII. Persecution of the Jews 

XLIV. The Conquest of Wales 

XLV. A Quarrel with France 

XLVI. The Coronation Stone . 

XLVII. The Insolent Favourite 

XLVIII. Bruce and the Spider . 

XLIX. Death of Edward II. . 

L. The Murderers punished 

LI. The Battle of Crecy . 

LII. The Siege of Calais 

LIIL The Age of Chivalry . 

LIV. The Battle of Poitiers . 

LV. The Peasants' Revolt . 

LVI. Richard's Presence of Mind 



LVII. A Tiny Queen . 

LVIII. Henry's Troubles 

LIX. Madcap Harry . 

LX. A Glorious Reign 

LXI. The Maid of Orleans 

LXII. The Beginning of the War of the Roses 

LXIII. The Queen and the Brigand 

LXIV. The Triumph of the Yorks 

LXV. The Princes in the Tower . 

LXVI. Richard's Punishment 

LXVII. Two Pretenders 

LXVIII. A Grasping King 

LXIX. The Field of the Cloth of Gold 

LXX. The New Opinions 

LXXI. Death of Wolsey 

LXXII. Henry's Wives . 

LXXI1L The King and the Painter 

LXXIV. A Boy King 

LXXV. The Story of Lady Jane Grey 

LXXVI. The Death of Cranmer 

LXXVII. A Clever Queen 

LXXVIII. Elizabeth's Lovers . 

LXXIX. Mary, Queen of Scots 

LXXX. Captivity of Mary Stuart . 

LXXXI. Wreck of the Spanish Armada 

LXXXII. The Elizabethan Age 

LXXXIII. Death of Elizabeth . 

LXXX1V. A Scotch King . 

LXXXV. The Gunpowder Plot 

LXXXVI. Sir Walter Raleigh . 

LXXXVII. King and Parliament 

LXXXVIII. Cavaliers and Roundheads 

LXXXIX. "Remember" . 



171 

174 
176 
179 

183 
187 
189 

193 
196 
200 
202 
205 
207 
211 
214 
217 
220 
222 
226 
230 
233 
235 
238 
241 
244 
246 
250 
252 

254 
257 
260 
263 
266 



IO 



xc. 


The Royal Oak 








269 


XCI. 


The Commonwealth 








. 271 


XC1I. 


The Restoration 








• 275 


XCIII. 


Plague and Fire 








. 278 


XCIV. 


The Merry Monarch 








. 280 


xcv. 


James driven out of England 








• 283 


XCVI. 


A Terrible Massacre 








. 286 


XCVII. 


William's Wars 








. 288 


XCVIII. 


The Duke of Marlborough 








. 291 


XCIX. 


The Taking of Gibraltar 








. 294 


c. 


The South Sea Bubble . 








. 296 


CI. 


Bonny Prince Charlie 








. 299 


CII. 


The Black Hole of Calcutta 








• 303 


cm. 


Loss of the Thirteen Colonies 








• 305 


CIV. 


The Battle of the Nile . 








• 309 


cv. 


Nelson's Last Signal 








. 312 


CVI. 


The Battle of Waterloo . 








• 314 


CVII. 


The First Gentleman in Europe 






• 319 


CVIII. 


The Childhood of Queen Victoria 






. 320 


CIX. 


The Queen's Marriage 






• 323 


ex. 


Some Wars in Victoria's Reign 






• 327 


CXI. 


The Jubilee .... 






• 334 


Genealogical Table .... 






• 34o 


The Sovereigns of England 






• 342 


Index 


. 








• 343 



MAPS. 

Great Britain and Irfland 

France 

India 

World, showing British Possessions 



opposite 1 1 

. 114 

. 302 

• 332, 333 




§ 




< ~ 




H ft 






IT 

1 


H ^ W 


| 


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W H 




H 










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THE STORY OF THE ENGLISH. 



I. EARLY TIMES. 



IF you look at a map of Europe, you will notice two 
large islands and many small ones at a short distance 
west of the mainland. It is the story of the people who 
have lived upon these islands that you are now going to 
hear. As you can see, the islands are so small that no 
matter how far inland you travel, you are never more than 
one hundred miles away from the water which hems them 
in on all sides. On the north and west there is the Atlan- 
tic Ocean, on the south the English Channel, and on the 
east the North Sea. 

These islands are now called the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, and they form one of the fore- 
most countries of the world. Great Britain includes Eng- 
land, Scotland, and Wales, besides the many little islands 
near by ; and as the language, laws, and customs of Great 
Britain are mostly English, you will find that you will hear 
more about England than about the other parts of the 
realm. 

Nobody knows just when the history of England really 



begins, because it commenced long before people learned 
how to read or write, or keep any kind of record of passing 
events. Many, many years before Christ, these islands 
were inhabited by a rude race, who hunted and fished, 
lived in caves, dressed in the skins of the beasts they had 
slain, and often made war against one another. We know 
this because, from time to time, farmers have dug up stone 
arrowheads and spears, knives and axes made of flint, 
and have found the bones of these ancient men and 
women. Among the ashes of their fires there have also 
been found the bones of the animals whose flesh they ate, 
or the shells of oysters and clams. 

As these early inhabitants used stone weapons, their 
time is generally known as the Stone Age. In the course 
of time the people grew more civilized, discovered metals, 
and learned how to make better weapons. Some of these 
weapons have also been dug up : they belong to the second 
period, which is called the Bronze Age. Such stone and 
bronze weapons are carefully kept in museums, where you 
can see them to-day, although the people who once used 
them have been dead for thousands of years. 

The British Isles are far out in the ocean, and since the 
ships which ancient people used were as clumsy as their 
knives and spears, the early inhabitants of this country 
could not leave their homes to visit the mainland. They 
did not need to do so, for these islands are very fertile, 
owing principally to the mist which rises from the sea, 
and which keeps the grass in England green nearly all the 
year round. 

On bright, clear days, when there is no mist at all, 
people standing on the coast of France, at the spot where 



the English Channel is narrowest, can just see the tall 
white chalk cliffs on the southern coast of England. 
These cliffs are so dazzlingly white that the people who 
lived in France used to call England the White Land. 
This name was translated into Latin by the Romans, who 
called the country Al'bi-on, a name which you will still 
sometimes find in poetry, but rarely in prose. 

The white cliffs of Great Britain roused the curiosity of 
the early inhabitants of France, the Gaels (galz), to such 
a point that some of them at last went out to sea in their 
little boats, which were fashioned of roughly woven willow, 
and covered with skins so as to be water-tight. 

In such rude craft the Gaels, after a time, either pad- 
dled or drifted to England ; and when they found what a 
beautiful country it was, and saw that game was plentiful, 
they settled down there. These Gaels, however, were 
only one tribe of a very large nation which is known as 
the Celtic race. They talked a language of their own, of 
which there are many traces in the Gaelic, a tongue which 
is still spoken in some parts of Ireland and Scotland, but 
which is very unlike our English. 



y^<c 



II. THE DRUIDS. 

THE Gaels were a very rude people, but they were a 
little more civilized than the first inhabitants of Brit- 
ain. They went out on their hunting or fighting expedi- 
tions under the leadership of one of their number, who, on 
account of his strength or skill, was chosen to be their chief. 



IA 



They had also learned how to build mud huts, which they 
placed close together and surrounded with a wall of tree- 
trunks and mud. This wall protected their dwellings from 
the attacks of the wild beasts which ranged through the 
forests then covering the greater part of the island. 

The Gaelic villages multiplied until they soon dotted the 
southern coast of England. Then, little by little, the Gaels 
improved, and learned to make a kind of cloth, which they 
used for clothing instead of the skins of wild beasts, and 
to fashion clumsy earthenware pots, in which they cooked 
their food. 

But, just as the Gaels had driven away the first inhabit- 
ants, of whom we know so little, they were, in turn, driven 
away themselves. Another tribe of the same race, called 
the Celts, now came from the mainland ; and as they were 
more civilized than the Gaels, and had better weapons, they 
forced the Gaels to retreat before them into the interior of 
the country. 

The newcomers knew how to plough, and sow, and reap, 
as we 11 as to hunt and fight. They brought with them 
\ h ' priests, who were called Dru'ids, and began to prac- 
tise in England what is known as the Dru-id'ic religion, or 
Dru'id-ism. 

These priests were the wisest men of the Celtic nation, 
and they knew something of agriculture, arithmetic, as- 
tronomy, medicine, etc. They were very careful, however, 
to teach what they knew only to a few of the most intel- 
ligent men of the tribe, who thus became Druids too, and 
were greatly respected by their less learned companions. 

At first the Druids used to teach their disciples by re- 
peating over and over again the things they knew ; and as 



15 



it is easier to remember poetry than anything else, most 
of their knowledge was put into a sort of rhyme. The 
Druids wore long white linen garments and strange golden 
ornaments. They selected one of their number to be their 
chief, and obeyed him in all things. The chief is said 
to have worn a little golden box, which contained a ser- 
pent's egg. But you must not imagine that this was an 
ordinary snake's egg. Oh, no! The Druids said it was a 
magic egg, and that if the box were put into the water it 
would swim against the current. 

Now the Celts and Gaels were so ignorant that they 
believed all this, and listened attentively to everything the 
Druids told them. But although the Druids did make 
them believe some very silly things, they also taught them 
some very useful knowledge. For instance, these priests 
told them that there was one great and powerful God, who 
had made them and enabled them to live. They said that 
this God was so great that no temple could hold him, and 
hence they always worshipped him out of doors. 

Sometimes the Druids held their services under a huge 
oak tree, in the depths of the great forest. Then*' / 
would tell the people that the oak was an emblem of the 
great God whom they worshipped, while the mistletoe, a 
little plant which grew on its bark, was like man, who was 
so weak and small that he could not live for a moment 
without the help of God. 

The Druids had very solemn services at times ; and once 
a year they used to march out into the forest, accompanied 
by holy women who were supposed to have the gift of 
prophecy. These women wore long white linen robes, had 
crowns of vervain on their heads, and carried golden sic- 



i6 



kles, with which the Druids cut down the mistletoe while 
chanting a sort of hymn. The herb thus gathered was 
used for medicine, and the Celts believed that it would 
cure almost every disease. 

In different parts of England, you can still see huge 
stone altars or tables, which are called dolmens. The 
rocks which form these altars are so large that it is not 
easy to understand how the Druids built them ; but it is 
evident that these wise men knew something about ma- 
chinery, and secretly made use of this knowledge to put 
them up. The ignorant people, however, believed that the 




Stonehenge. 

stones had moved into their places at a mere touch of the 
Druids' magic wands. 

Although the Druids generally offered up a horse or 
some other animal, they sometimes laid human sacrifices 
on these great stone slabs, in which little grooves were cut 
to receive the blood. As they fancied that such a sacri- 
fice was agreeable to God, the victim sometimes offered 



17 

to die of his own free will. In times of war, prisoners 
were sacrificed ; but when they were very numerous, the 
Druids made a huge wicker cage in the shape of a man, 
crammed it full of captives, and then set it afire, while 
they intoned their chants. 

Besides the stone altars, the Druids are also supposed 
to have built one of the strangest monuments in the world, 
that known as Stone'henge, on the Salisbury (sawlz'ber-y) 
Plain in England. There, 
around a huge stone altar, 

you can see two circles ^'-VTj^fi'fjf % ! vifQP u ^EiJ 
of upright stones, which ^^'|^i^ : ^^|t__!??-:- : 
were once connected bv 




flat slabs laid on top of 

them. Learned men now Stonehenge (restored). 

think that this was one of 

the Druidic temples, and hence left open to the sky ; but 

it was built so long before real history began, that the 

people, unable to account for its origin, declared it had 

risen by magic, in the course of a single night, from stones 

spirited over the sea from Ireland. 



m<c 



III. THE BRITONS. 

THE Gaels and Celts were followed by a third tribe of 
their own race, called the Brit'ons, from whom the 
country took the name of Britain. They, too, came from 
the mainland, and, being more civilized than the Celts, 
drove them away from the coast into the interior. The 

STO. OF ENG. — 2 



18 



Celts, in their turn, drove the Gaels still farther away, and 
forced them to go and live in the mountains of Scotland 
and Wales, where it was cold and foggy, but where there 
was plenty of game. 

The Britons, however, had just the same religion as the 
Celts, and so they brought over more Druids, of their 
own tribe, who finally settled in the island of An'gle-sey. 
Here they founded a school, where they would keep a 
pupil at his studies for twenty years, making him learn 
by heart all they knew. Besides the Druids, there were 
teachers, or prophets, and a class of men called bards, who 
went about from place to place, singing the great deeds of 
heroes, which they or the Druids had woven into songs. 

The Britons were braver and stronger than the Celts, 
and had better weapons. Their main pleasure was to ter- 
rify their enemies. To do this, they used to utter fearful 
cries, and brandish their spears. Each spear was provided 
with a noisy rattle, which made a great din when shaken 
or flung. It was fastened to the warrior's wrist by a long 
strap ; and after a Briton had flung his spear at an enemy 
he would jerk it back by this strap. 

As the "Britons wore big moustaches, and painted their 
bodies blue, you can readily imagine how strange they 
looked, and how they must have frightened their enemies. 
They were fierce and quarrelsome, and rode small horses, 
which they had trained to fight too. These shaggy little 
ponies used to dash into the very midst of the fray, and 
stand still while their riders dismounted ; but as soon as 
they felt their masters on their backs once more, they 
would rush off, knocking the enemies over and trampling 
them under foot. After the Britons had settled in Eng- 



19 

land, they learned to make rude war chariots, to which 
they harnessed these intelligent little horses, which they 
guided by signs. To make more havoc, the Britons fas- 
tened scythes to their chariot wheels, and, driving rapidly 
into the very midst of the enemy, mowed their foes down 
like ripe grain. 

Now, although the Gaels, Celts, and Britons were so 
rude at this time, there were other nations in Europe who 
had progressed faster, and had already reached a high 
degree of civilization. Towards the south, along the shores 
of the Mediterranean Sea, there were many prosperous 
cities. Most of these had been founded by the Phce-ni"- 
cians, who, as they owned but a little strip of land on the 
coast of Asia, turned to the sea and became great navi- 
gators. Already, one thousand years before Christ, the 
Phoenicians had coasted all around the Mediterranean Sea, 
and we are told that they even ventured out into the 
Atlantic Ocean, through the Strait of Gi-bral'tar. They 
soon began to carry goods from one place to another, and 
thus became great traders. 

Men in those days were always fighting, so they wanted 
armour and weapons ; and as copper is not quite hard 
enough for this purpose, they needed something to mix 
with it so as to harden it. The Phoenicians knew that tin 
was just what was needed ; and as they could not find 
enough of this metal near home to supply the demand, 
they sailed off in search of tin mines elsewhere. They 
soon found some in Spain, and got tin from the natives in 
exchange for cloth and trinkets; then, when they reached 
home, they sold this tin at such profit that they soon be- 
came very rich. But since the tin mines in Spain could 



20 



not furnish as much metal as the Phoenicians wanted, 
they soon sailed all around Spain, and along the coast of 
France, in search of more. Here some merchants told 
them that they could find all the tin they wanted in Brit- 
ain ; so the Phoenicians, if old stories be true, crossed the 
Channel and landed in England. There the Phoenicians 
found mines so rich that they are still worked to-dav, 
nearly three thousand years after they were first discovered. 

As the Phoenicians made large profits by their tin trade, 
they were very careful not to tell any one where the mines 
were situated ; and whenever any one inquired where they 
got their metal, they would always answer, " From the 
Cas-si-ter'i-des," or Tin Islands. 

Many years later, the Romans, who were great fighters, 
and needed a great deal of tin for the manufacture of their 
weapons, were very anxious to find these islands ; so they 
fitted out a vessel and sent it away with orders to watch 
and follow a Phoenician ship, and not to give up the pur- 
suit until the Tin Islands had been reached. 

The Roman captain was a bold and clever man, so he 
managed to sail after the Phoenicians for a long while 
unseen ; but finally the Phoenician captain discovered that 
he was followed, and that the long-guarded secret was 
likely to become known to his foes. Rather than let them 
find it out, he resolved to sacrifice his boat and crew. 

So he changed his course a little, and lured the Roman 
vessel on into shallow waters, until it came on a sunken 
reef, and was dashed to pieces. The Phoenician vessel 
could not escape the same fate, but the captain and his 
crew managed to cling to the spars until they were washed 
ashore or rescued. The men on the Roman vessel, how- 



21 



ever, all perished ; and it was not till two hundred years 
later, and in a different way, that the Romans found out 
where the Tin Islands were situated. 



3>«XC 



IV. CESAR IN BRITAIN. 

IN exchange for the tin from the mines of Wales and 
Corn'wall, the Phoenicians brought the Britons many 
useful things, and taught them how to make better weap- 
ons. But as few people besides the Phoenicians ever came 
to Britain, the inhabitants progressed very slowly, and 
were still savages when Jul/ius Cae'sar, the most famous 
of Roman generals, conquered Gaul, the country which is 
now called France. 

Hearing from some merchants that the Britons had sent 
help to the Gauls, Caesar made up his mind to cross the 
Channel and punish them. Vessels were prepared to carry 
the Roman legions (or regiments) across the water; and 
one night, when a favourable wind was blowing, Caesar 
and his men embarked. Early the next morning they 
drew near the tall white cliffs at Do'ver; and, seeing no 
good landing place there, Caesar bade his men sail east- 
ward along the coast until they came to a shelving beach. 

Warned by the merchants that Caesar was coming over 
to conquer them, the fierce Britons had assembled there. 
They watched the coming of the Romans, who gazed with 
surprise at them; for their bodies were painted blue, and 
they uttered blood-curdling cries as they brandished their 
spears and shook their war rattles. 



22 



Although surprised, the Roman soldiers under Caesar 
were too hardened warriors to be frightened ; and as soon 
as the water was shallow enough, the standard bearer 
sprang out and waded ashore, closely followed by his com- 
panions. Then the Britons and the Romans had a fierce 
battle ; but in spite of their great bravery, the Britons were 
defeated and forced to make a treaty with Caesar. As 
some of the tribes in Gaul had taken advantage of his 
absence to revolt, Caesar did not remain in Britain to con- 
tinue his conquests, but hastily recrossed the Channel. 
When he had put down this rebellion, he found that the 
Britons did not keep their promises, so he crossed the 
Channel once more, with a larger army, to force the Brit- 
ons to obey him. They resisted fiercely, but vainly, under 
the able leadership of a brave chief named Cas-si-vel- 
lau'nus. 

These two expeditions into Britain were made in the 
years 55 and 54 B.C., and it was thus that the Romans 
became masters of the country where the tin mines were 
situated. Caesar himself wrote an account of both cam- 
paigns in his " Commentaries," a Latin work which is still 
read in our schools. In that book the country is called 
Bri-tan'ni-a — a name still used in poetry to-day. 

The Britons, thus brought into contact with the Romans 
for a short time, made some progress ; but, instead of 
keeping the treaty they had made, they proved for a 
while very rebellious subjects. During the next one hun- 
dred years the Romans were too busy elsewhere to pay 
much attention to them ; so it was not till the time of the 
emperor Clau'di-us that legions were again sent out to 
their island. 



23 



This time the Britons were led by Ca-rac'ta-cus, who 
fought for nine years before he was conquered. The 
Roman general then took this Briton chief to Rome, 
where the captive was forced to march in chains in the 
victor's triumph. As the barbarian slowly passed along 
the streets, of the Eternal City, amid the deafening shouts 




Caractacus led in Triumph through Rome. 



of the people, he gazed in awe at the beautiful buildings, 
and bitterly cried : " Alas ! how is it possible that a people 
possessed of such magnificence at home could envy me my 
humble cottage in Britain? " 

This remark was repeated to the emperor Claudius, and, 
although he was not noted for his kind-heartedness, he was 
so touched by the Briton chief's bravery and homesickness 
that he set him free, as well as the other captives of his 
race. 



24 



V. QUEEN BOADICEA. 

IN defeating Caractacus, the Romans had become mas- 
ters of the southern part of the island only. Many 
Britons were not subdued, and, helped by the Celts and 
Gaels, they often revolted. The Roman generals stationed 
in Britain put down one revolt after another; but finally 
Sue-to 'ni- us, one of them, declared that he was sure the 
Druids advised the Britons to fight. He therefore made 
up his mind to go and attack the priests in their island of 
Anglesey, and set out with his legions. 

As Suetonius drew near the Druid stronghold, he saw 
that the priests had been warned of his coming, for they 
rushed forward to meet him, uttering strange cries and 
curses. They were armed, and fought fiercely, while the 
women, too, attacked the enemy with lighted torches, 
uttering shrill screams, and wildly tossing their long hair. 

In spite of the brave defence of the Druids, Suetonius 
landed on the island, killed the priests and bards, overthrew 
the altars and temples, and cut down the sacred oak trees 
beneath whose shade they had been wont to gather. 
But while he was doing this, some other Roman soldiers 
cruelly illtreated Bo-ad-i-ce'a, the queen of one of the 
Briton tribes, and insulted her two daughters. 

Escaping from their hands with her unhappy daughters, 
Boadicea drove in her chariot all through the land, calling 
the people together, and telling them how shamefully the 
Romans had treated her and her poor children. As she 
spoke, the men's eyes gleamed with anger; and at her 
appeal, they all took up their arms and swore to avenge 



25 

her. Led by this woman, the Britons went forth to fight 
the Romans, took their principal city, killed the seventy 
thousand strangers who dwelt there, and set fire to the 
beautiful buildings which the Romans had put up. But 
their triumph did not last long, for they soon met Sueto- 
nius coming back from Anglesey. He attacked them, and 
although the Britons fought more fiercely than ever before, 
they were soon completely beaten. 

We are told that eighty thousand Britons died on that 
field of battle, and that Boadicea killed herself and her 
children, rather than fall into the enemy's hands and be 
taken to Rome to figure in the victor's triumph. 

This victory left the Romans masters of the greater part 
of the island. All the Britons who were not willing to 
obey them fled to the mountains, to join the Picts and 
Scots, who were also Celtic tribes. Here the Romans did 
not dare venture, for fear they should lose their way and 
fall into an ambush. From time to time, parties of war- 
riors would make sudden raids down into the country, kill- 
ing, burning, and robbing wherever they went. Then, be- 
fore the Roman soldiers could overtake them, they would 
carry their spoil back to the mountains, to hide until it 
was time for a new expedition. 

To prevent these inroads into the country, which was 
rapidly becoming fertile and civilized, the Romans built 
large fortified camps at Ex'e-ter, Chester, and York, which 
last they made their capital. In these camps, or cities, 
they built beautiful houses, temples, and public baths, such 
as they had in Rome. There are still some traces of these 
fine buildings, and the well-made Roman roads, which 
connected the different camps, are still good to-day. 



26 



Little by little, the Britons learned many of the Roman 
arts; and in the first century of our era, some of them 
heard Christian soldiers tell the story of Christ, and be- 
came Christians. For many years Roman soldiers did all 
the fighting in Britain, while the young Britons who joined 
the army were sent to fight in other lands, under Roman 
generals. 



VI. THE GREAT WALLS. 

TO protect the northern part of Britain from the raids 
of the Picts and Scots, the Romans built three walls 
all across the island at its narrowest point. These walls, 
which are more than seventy miles long, are known by the 
names of the emperors by whose order they were built, 
and are hence called the walls of Ha'dri-an, of An-to-ni'- 
nus, and of Se-ve'rus. 

As the Romans were noted for their solid masonry, 
their walls stood firm for many long years, and even now, 
nearly seventeen centuries after the last wall was finished, 
there are some parts of it still standing. Along the walls, 
at certain intervals, were towers where the Roman soldiers 
stood on guard night and day, so that the Picts and Scots 
could not force their way into the cultivated lands. 

Nearly five hundred years after the Romans first set 
foot in Britain, and when the country was quite used to 
their rule, Rome was threatened by a terrible invasion of 
barbarians. The legions were all needed to protect the 
frontier nearer home, so an order was sent to Britain re- 
calling all the troops. 



2-j 



The Britons were in despair, for those who were now 
left on the island did not know how to fight, and all the 
people were afraid of the Scots and Picts. But the 
Roman legions could not stay ; so they gave the Britons 




William Bell Scott, Art 



Building a Roman Wall. 



weapons, taught them how to fight, and bade them keep 
watch on the walls and drive back their enemies whenever 
they came down from Cal-e-do'ni-a, as Scotland was then 
called. 



As soon as the Romans had left the country, the Picts 
and Scots marched southward. When they came near the 
great walls, they were surprised to see men on guard there, 
and hesitated for a little while ; but they soon took cour- 
age, and, rushing forward, they climbed over the walls and 
drove away the Britons, who dared not resist. 

There was nothing now to stop these marauders, who 
overran the whole country, destroying all that they could 
not carry away, and killing the inhabitants, or leading them 
off to sell them as slaves. Encouraged by success, the 
Picts and Scots came into Britain again and again. Each 
time they went a little farther south, and the inhabitants 
fled at their approach. The Britons could not protect 
themselves against the inroads of these barbarians, who 
were not much more civilized than the Britons had been 
at the time of Caesar's invasion ; so they wrote a pitiful 
letter to the Roman general in Gaul, begging him to come 
over and help them. This letter was entitled " The Groans 
of the Britons," and ran thus: "The barbarians drive us 
into the sea ; the sea throws us back upon the swords of 
the barbarians : and we have only the hard choice of per- 
ishing by the sword or by the waves." 

This letter reached the Roman general safely, but he 
could not help the Britons, because he had to defend 
Gaul against At'ti-la, the " Scourge of God," the terrible 
king of the Huns, who was sweeping all over Europe with 
his hordes of barbarians. As Rome itself was threatened, 
the Romans could not spare any troops to help the Brit- 
ons, who, as you will soon see, were thus driven to seek 
help elsewhere. 



29 



VII. THE GREAT IRISH SAINT. 

SHORTLY after the Roman legions had left Britain, 
and during one of their first raids over the wall of 
Severus, the Picts carried off into captivity a boy named 
Patrick, who was then about sixteen years of age. He 
was the son of a deacon, and was busy ploughing when 
the marauders fell upon him. 

The Picts, after taking young Patrick back to their 
mountain homes, conveyed him over the Irish Sea to Ire- 
land, where they sold him into slavery. For six years 
Patrick was obliged to watch his master's sheep on the 
hillside, and during that time he often prayed that he 
might escape. 

Finally his prayers were answered, and after hiding for 
some time among the reeds by the shore, Patrick boarded 
one of the vessels which came to trade along the coast. 
From there he probably went to France, then to a mon- 
astery near the Mediterranean, and then to Rome. 

He studied hard to become a priest ; and when he was 
ordained, he went back to Britain, where his kinsmen were 
glad to see him. While there, Patrick was troubled by 
dreams and visions. It seemed to him as if the people in 
Ireland, or Hi-ber'ni-a, as it was called in the days of the 
Romans, were stretching out their hands to him, and beg- 
ging him to come over to them. 

At times he fancied that he heard the Irish saying, 
" We pray thee, holy youth, to come and henceforth walk 
among us." The result was that Patrick, either by the 
pope's orders, or of his own free will, finally made his 



30 

way back to the country whence he had escaped as a 
slave. 

With a few followers, he landed on the Irish coast. 
Thence he made his way on foot to Meath, where a pagan 
Irish king was holding a great festival. It was the custom, 
at that time, that no fire should be lighted until the king 
had given the signal by kindling his. But Patrick, not 
knowing this, and stopping to keep Easter on the. hill of 
Slane, made a bright fire there. 

When its light was seen, the Irish king sent a messen- 
ger to Patrick, bidding him come and explain how he dared 
to light his fire before the king. An old writer tells us 
that Patrick immediately set out with the messenger, but 
that, as he went along, many prodigies took place. First, 
darkness fell upon the earth; then the ground shook be- 
neath their feet ; and when some of the Irish magicians 
would fain have stopped Patrick, they were seized by 
invisible hands and tossed up in the air. 

When Patrick appeared before the angry king, he began 
to preach to him ; and such was this missionary's eloquence 
that he converted not only the ruler, but the whole clan. 
Journeying about from place to place, Patrick is said to 
have converted all Ireland, to have baptized more than 
twenty thousand converts with his own hand, and to have 
founded more than three hundred churches. 

As Patrick lived so long ago, and as no record was kept 
of his life, many things are told about him which most 
people do not now believe to be true. Stories are told of 
his driving all the snakes out of Ireland into the sea, and 
of his working many other miracles. 

The only thing we are sure of is that he converted the 



31 

Irish and founded churches and monasteries in the island. 
In the monasteries he established schools, which were 
visited by students from all parts of the world. These 
men became missionaries, preached in Scotland, England, 
France, Germany, Switzerland, and Italy, and were so 
enthusiastic and so earnest that they did a great deal of 
good. 

Thus the schools founded by Patrick, the first Bishop of 
Ireland, were the foremost in Europe for about three cen- 
turies. The man who founded them is now called Saint 
Patrick, and he is considered the patron saint of the island 
where he was, in turn, slave, priest, and saint. His birth- 
day, celebrated on the 17th of March, is one of the great- 
est festivals in Ireland. 

VIII. THE ANGLO-SAXONS. 

YOU have seen how the poor Britons had vainly ap- 
pealed to the Roman general in Gaul to come and 
deliver them from the Picts and Scots, who were ravaging 
the whole country and driving them into the sea. When 
the Britons found out that the Romans could not help 
them, they began to look around them for other aid. 

In the days of the Romans, light willow barks, covered 
with skins, had sometimes visited the shores of the island. 
These boats carried hardy warriors, who came from the 
shores of the Baltic Sea. They belonged to the Teu-ton'ic, 
or German, race — a race never subdued by the Romans, 
who were then masters of nearly all the known world. 

These men were so brave that Vor'ti-gern, the British 



32 

chief, begged some of them to come over to Britain and 
help him drive back the Picts and Scots. One of the 
Teutonic tribes, the Jutes, consented; and about the year 
449 a whole fleet of little ships came dancing over the sea, 
which the Teutons called the " Swan Road," because when 
winter drew near they often watched the birds flying or 
swimming southward over the waters. 

The leaders of the Jutes, it is said, were two brothers, 
Hen'gist and Hor'sa, the descendants of Wo'den, who was 
the principal god of the Teutonic nations. The Jutes were 
used to fighting, and helped the Britons drive back the 
Picts and Scots. The marauders were forced to retreat to 
the other side of the walls, which were repaired and pro- 
vided with defenders. 

In reward for their services, Vortigern gave the Jutes 
the island of Than'et ; and while some of them settled down 
there contentedly, others went back to their native coun- 
try to tell what they had seen. But, as Britain was much 
more fertile than the land where they dwelt, they soon 
came back, with their families, to settle in it. 

The Jutes were followed, before long, by another Teu- 
tonic tribe, the Sax'ons. As there was not room enough 
for them all in the island of Thanet, the Saxons settled on 
the mainland, where they were joined by other Saxons; 
and their numbers multiplied so fast that they soon cov- 
ered much territory. 

The Britons were forced to retreat before the new- 
comers ; and as they were afraid of the Picts and Scots, 
and dared not go north, they withdrew to the west, where 
they took possession of Cornwall and Wales. Now that 
it was too late, Vortigern saw what a mistake he had made 



33 

in inviting the Jutes to come over and help him. He could 
not quarrel with them, however, because he had married 
Ro-we'na, Hengist's beautiful young daughter. It seems 
that he had fallen in love with this maiden at first sight, 
when she came to offer him a drink, as was the custom in 
her country whenever a stranger came into the house. 

The Jutes and Saxons spread farther and farther over 
the southern part of Britain, until they took entire pos- 
session of Vortigern's kingdom, driving him far into the 
west, where he died of grief. After the Jutes and Saxons 
came a third Teutonic tribe, the An'gles, who, in their 
turn, settled in the eastern part of Britain. 

They killed all the natives who would not peaceably 
make way for them, sparing only the women and children, 
whom they made their slaves. But the Angles were not 
nearly so civilized as the Britons, who had learned much 
from their Roman conquerors, and they destroyed many 
of the Roman buildings, which they were too ignorant to 
admire. 

When they first came over to Britain, the Anglo-Sax- 
ons — as the Angles and Saxons are often called for short 
— knew nothing at all about Christianity, and brought with 
them their own language, laws, and religion. This old 
Anglo-Saxon religion soon gave way before Christianity, 
as you will see ; but the names of the heathen gods of the 
Anglo-Saxons are still found in our names of the days of 
the week. Thus, Sunday was the day of the sun god; 
Monday, of the moon deity ; Tuesday was named after 
Tiu, god of war; Wednesday, after Woden, their principal 
divinity, and the ancestor of their kings ; Thursday took 
its name from Thor, god of thunder; Friday, from Frea, 

STO. OF ENG.— 3 



34 

goddess of beauty ; and Saturday, from Sat'urn, a Roman 
divinity. 

But, although there are now very few traces left of the 
old Teutonic religion, the Anglo-Saxon laws and language 
form the basis of the present English laws and language, 
so they are of great interest to the one hundred and fifty 
million English-speaking people of this century. 



D^C 



IX. BRAVE KING ARTHUR. 

THE Angles, in the course of time, formed three king- 
doms in Britain, which bore the names of An'gli-a, 
Me'r'cia, and Nor-thum'bri-a. But, in speaking of the 
territory they occupied, they so often said that it was the 
Angles' land, that little by little the name was contracted 
into " England," and after the tenth century the whole 
country was known by this name. 

The Saxons also formed three kingdoms, called Es'sex, 
Wes'sex, and Sus'sex, or the lands of the East, West, and 
South Saxons; and the Jutes took possession of that part 
of England which goes by the name of Kent. You see, 
the Britons had very little space left, and for some time 
they could not resist their powerful foes. But not very 
long after Vortigern's death, they were ruled by Arthur, 
a British chief whose name has become very famous, be- 
cause many poets have written about him and about his 
great deeds. 

It is so long since Arthur lived that we really know 
little about him ; but we are told that he fought against 



35 

the Saxons and defeated them in twelve great battles. 
Brave as Arthur was in war, he was no less gentle and 
courteous in peace, and the Britons were so proud of him 
that they were never tired of singing his praises. 

After a time they began to fancy that he was more 
than a man ; and when he finally fell in battle, and was 
buried in Glastonbury (glahs'en-ber-y), they would not 
believe that he was dead. They said that Arthur could 
not die, and that when he fell, sorely wounded, the fairies 
carried him away to their island home at Av'a-lon, to make 
him well. 

They had such faith in Arthur that they thought he 
would come back, some day, to reign over all Britain and 
make his people happy. The bards, who loved to sing 
about Arthur, fostered this belief; and we are told that 
some of the descendants of the old Britons, the Welsh, as 
they are now called, still believe that Arthur will come 
back to his loving people. 

After Arthur's death, the Britons were driven still far- 
ther away from their former homes, and some of them, 
crossing the sea, went to settle in France, in a province 
called Brit'tan-y. Here, and in Wales, the old Briton 
language is still spoken by many of the common people, 
and wonderful stories about King Arthur are still told by 
the fireside. 

Many years later, when a new race had settled in Eng- 
land, stories of Arthur were told in every castle. As the 
warriors then wore armour, held tournaments, and went 
about to deliver the oppressed, they imagined that Arthur 
and his followers used to do the same. So they made up 
long tales about the adventures of Arthur's principal com- 



36 

panions, who, they said, assembled in his palace at Caer- 
leon (car-le'on), and held feasts there, sitting at a round 
table. Because they did this, they were called the Knights 
of the Round Table, and poets have long loved to write 
about them. One of the last great poets who has retold 
their story is Tennyson, whose " Idylls of the King" you 
will read with great delight. 



:>>©<< 



X. THE LAWS OF THE SAXONS. 

THE Anglo-Saxons, having terrified the Picts, Scots, 
and Britons, so that they no longer dared come into 
the main part of the island, settled down quietly in the 
kingdoms they had founded. As there were generally 
seven of these kingdoms, they are known as the Hep'- 
tarch-y, or the Seven Kingdoms. 

You must not imagine, however, that the Anglo-Saxons 
entirely gave up fighting, for they often quarrelled and 
waged war against one another. But whenever any great 
danger threatened them, the Seven Kingdoms united under 
the command of the bravest of their kings, who was given 
the title of brct'wal-da, or head of the army. Besides the 
king, there were the earls, noblemen who were the gov- 
ernors and judges of certain provinces ; the thanes, who 
served the king; the churls, who were the farmers; and, 
the lowest and largest class of all, the slaves, or serfs. 

The people believed that the Anglo-Saxon kings all 
belonged to the race of Woden, but the crown did not 
always pass from a father to his eldest son, as it does now. 



37 

Whenever a king died, the principal men of the tribe as- 
sembled in a council which was called the Wit'e-na-ge- 
mot, or assembly of wise men. Here they talked the 
matter over and elected a new king, who could reign only 
by consent of the people. The Witenagemot also met 
two or three times a year, to decide what had best be done, 
and what new laws should be made, or to judge any case 
which could not be settled by the earls. 

Most of the Anglo-Saxon punishments were by fines, a 
larger sum being asked for the murder of an earl than for 
that of a churl, and the killing of a horse or a cow being 
rated higher than that of a slave. Each earl had a sort of 
court over which he presided, and when a man was ac- 
cused of a crime, he could prove his innocence either by 
getting ten men of his own class to swear he had not done 
wrong, or by submitting to an ordeal. 

Now, as you probably do not know what an ordeal was, 
I must explain to you that it was a test of some kind. 
For instance, there was the ordeal by water, in which the 
accused was forced to plunge his hand into boiling water. 
If, at the end of a certain number of days, his burns were 
healed, he was said to be guiltless ; but if they were not 
well, he was condemned as guilty. Sometimes the ac- 
cused had to pick up a bar of iron heated red-hot, or had 
to walk blindfolded over nine heated ploughshares, or to 
plunge his hand or foot into boiling oil or pitch. Of course, 
we know that it was impossible by this plan to find out 
whether a man was innocent or guilty ; but the Anglo- 
Saxons fancied that God would plainly show them who 
was right and who was wrong. 

In these trials by ordeal, if the accused was a friend of 



38 

the executioner, or if he had given him a present, the iron, 
water, or oil was not heated so hot as when the accused 
was an enemy, or even a stranger. So while some of the 
old Anglo-Saxon laws have proved worthy of being pre- 
served, no one can regret that the trial by ordeal has been 
long ago given up. 

XI. THE STORY OF ST. AUGUSTINE. 

THE Anglo-Saxons had been masters of England for 
many years, when Eth'el-bert, the third bretwalda, 
married a French princess, Bertha, who was a Christian. 

In the wars between the various Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, 
many captives were taken, and these were often sold as 
slaves. Besides this, many poor men were compelled by 
their hunger to sell themselves and their wives and chil- 
dren into slavery. 

We are told that some English boys were brought to 
Rome by the slave merchants, and exposed there for sale 
on the market place. A monk named Greg'o-ry, who was 
passing by, stopped to look at them. Struck by the blue 
eyes, golden hair, and fair complexion of these children, 
he asked the merchant who they were. The man answered 
that they were Angles and heathens. 

" Oh," cried the monk, " they would be indeed not 
Angli (Angles), but angeli (angels), if they were only 
Christians! " 

This monk was so pleased, either by his own pun or by 
the good looks of the young slaves, that he wanted to go 
to Britain without delay ; but his friends would not let him. 



39 

He did not forget the Angles, however ; and when he be- 
came pope, soon after, he sent Au'gus-tine and forty other 
monks to preach the gospel to the Angles, or English. 

Augustine travelled through Gaul, where he got some 
men who could act as interpreters, and then landed on the 
island of Thanet, on the coast of England. From here, he 
sent a message to Ethelbert, begging for an interview, and 
asking permission to preach to the people. As Bertha 
was a Christian, she coaxed her husband to receive Augus- 
tine ; but the pagan king was so afraid the monk would try 
to influence him by magic, that he would not receive him 
indoors, and sat under an oak, fancying that so holy a tree 
would protect him from all evil spells. 

Augustine now advanced with his forty monks, and 
showed Ethelbert a picture of Christ. Then he preached 
to the king to such good purpose that he consented to be 
baptized. Of course all his court followed his example, 
and we are told that on Pentecost day ten thousand Anglo- 
Saxons were converted, and that the Christian religion 
soon took the place of the worship of Woden all through 
England. 

Churches were built in different parts of the country, 
the greatest being the Cathedral of Can'ter-bur-y, of 
which Augustine was the first bishop. There is nothing 
left of this old building, but the famous Cathedral of. 
Canterbury (p. 40) stands on the very spot that it once 
occupied. Churches were also built, at this time, in Lon- 
don, on the sites of West'min-ster Abbey and St. Paul's 
Cathedral ; and when we enter these buildings, we like to 
think that Christians have worshipped on these spots 
nearly thirteen hundred years. 



40 



In a very short time, the monks Gregory had sent 
visited all the different parts of England, and founded 
churches and monasteries, where many students came to 
learn all that the monks could teach them. Most of the 




Canterbury Cathedral. 



monks' books were written in Latin, so all the students 
learned to read and write in that language, rather than in 
their own. As it had not seemed best to the priests that 
prayers should be translated into English, the church ser- 
vices were also held in Latin, a language which the com- 
mon people did not understand. 



41 



XII. THREE GREAT MEN. 

YOU have heard how Augustine came over to England 
to convert the Anglo-Saxons. After his death he 
was made a saint, and he is the missionary of England, 
just as St. Patrick is the missionary of Ireland. There 
were many good men in the monasteries which were 
founded in England, and a few of them are still famous. 

There was, for instance, a monk named Gil'das, who 
wrote a Latin history, in which he tells us a great deal 
about olden times in England. Copies of this book have 
been preserved, and it has been translated into English. 

In the nunneries of the seventh century, the nuns and 
their servants used to spend the long winter evenings 
around the fire, telling tales and singing songs. In one 
nunnery there was a poor servant named Caedmon (ked'- 
mon), who was greatly embarrassed when his turn came. 
He had nothing to say, and felt so ashamed that he went 
out into the stable and wept. While he was there one even- 
ing, he heard a voice which bade him sing. First he an- 
swered that he could not ; but when the command was 
repeated, he inquired, "What shall I sing?" "Sing the 
beginning of created things," answered the voice. So 
Caedmon, who had often heard the nuns tell about the 
creation, began to sing, and, to his surprise, he found that 
he was reciting a wonderful poem. 

We are told that Hilda, the abbess of the nunnery, 
encouraged Caedmon to compose more verse, and that his 
poem, the first in English, gave Milton, one of our greatest 
geniuses, the idea of writing " Paradise Lost." 



42 

The first English prose was written, nearly one hundred 
years after Caedmon's poem, by the Venerable Bede. He 
translated one of the Gospels into English. He was very 
old, and when his great work was nearly finished, feeling 
that he was about to die, he bade his disciple hurry and 
write down the end of the translation. 

" There is still one chapter wanting, Master," said the 
scribe ; " it is hard for thee to think and to speak." 
" It must be done," said Bede. "Write quickly!" 
The work went on, but the master grew weaker and 
weaker; and when night was coming on, the scribe said: 
"There is yet one sentence to write, dear Master." 
Once more the master roused himself to dictate the last 
words, and a few moments later the scribe exclaimed : " It 
is finished!" " Thou sayest truth," replied the weary old 
man ; " it is finished ; all is finished ! " And, sinking back 
upon his pillow, he died, leaving us the first English trans- 
lation of one of the books of the Bible. 



5>®<C 



XIII. THE DANISH PIRATES. 

ABOUT four hundred years after the Anglo-Saxons 
/Y fi rst came to settle in Britain, other men from the 
north began to appear on their coasts. These, too, made 
part of the great Teutonic race, and came from the shores 
of the Baltic Sea; but they were far less civilized than the 
Anglo-Saxons, and still worshipped heathen gods. 

Their main object was to plunder, and, landing from 
their skiffs, they would attack the peaceful Anglo-Saxon 




(43) 



44 

villages, and destroy all the property which they did not 
carry away. They came when least expected, and some- 
times sailed off with their plunder before the terrified inhab- 
itants could arm to resist them. These pirates were called, 
from their nationality, Danes or Northmen ; and, from the 
bays where their ships sought shelter, vik'ings or bay-men. 

The Northmen not only ravaged the coasts of England, 
Scotland, and Ireland from the seventh to the tenth cen- 
tury, but they also visited the coasts of the Continent. 
Such was the terror they inspired in England that a sen- 
tence was added to the Litany, and the people daily prayed, 
" From the fury of the Northmen, good Lord, deliver us." 

Some of the chiefs of the Northmen were so brave and 
daring that their names have come down to us in history. 
One of the best-known among them is Rag'nar Lod'brog, 
a Danish king who invaded England in the days when 
^El'la was head of the Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy. 

When Ragnar's fleet appeared, with the big vessels called 
" dragons " and the little ones "snails," the people fled; 
but yElla promptly assembled a large army to repulse the 
enemy. The two forces met in a bloody battle, in which 
Ragnar was defeated and fell into the hands of his enemies. 

To punish the captive king for all the harm he had done 
to the English, JEWa thrust him into a pit filled with venom- 
ous serpents, which crawled all over him and bit him to 
death. But even while the serpents were torturing him, 
Ragnar remained calm and showed no fear. 

As his hands were tied, and he could not use them to 
play on his harp, which had been flung into the pit after 
him, we are told that the dauntless old Northman began to 
play upon it witn his toes. Then, to show the English 



45 

how little he cared for their tortures, he began a song, in 
which he boasted how bravely he had fought, how many 
foes he had slain, and how he scorned his conquerors. 

Singing thus, he died ; but his death did not put an end 
to the Northmen's raids, for Ragnar's sons came over to 
England to avenge him. They captured King idla in 
battle, sacrificed him on one of the heathen altar-stones, 
and took possession of a large part of the country. 

For many years after the death of yElla, the Saxons and 
the Danes were always at war ; and as more and more of 
these Northmen came over the sea, they took up more and 
more room. The part of the land occupied by the Danes 
was called the Danelagh, and the Saxon kings, weary of 
fighting, sometimes bribed them to keep peace. But, as 
the Danes delighted in warfare, the truce never lasted 
long, and bloodshed and destruction were soon renewed. 

In these wars the Danes not only burned the wooden 
houses of the Saxons, but they also ruined the stone 
churches, which had been built at great cost by workmen 
brought from the Continent. These churches were deco- 
rated with beautiful paintings, and some of them even 
had stained-glass windows, which were then very rare. 

The Danes destroyed these beautiful buildings because 
they hated the Christian religion, and because they wanted 
to secure the gold and silver vessels used for mass, and 
the large sums of money often kept in the churches. This 
money was collected by the priests, who always accepted 
all the gifts the people brought them, and claimed, be- 
sides, one penny from each household. As the money was 
sent to the pope to help build the beautiful church of St. 
Peter's in Rome, the tax has been called " Peter's pence." 



4 6 

King Eth'el-wulf, who first gave the priests permission 
to collect Peter's pence in his realm, was so pious a king 
that he made several journeys to Rome to visit the pope. 
Once he took with him his youngest son, Alfred, a prince 
who lived to be one of the most remarkable kings the 
world has ever seen. 

XIV. KING ALFRED AND THE CAKES. 

C^E all the Saxon youths of his time, Alfred soon 
learned how to handle the arms of a soldier, but he 
knew nothing of what even the smallest children now 
learn in school. One day, when he was twelve years old, 
he and his brothers noticed that the queen was reading a 
book of Saxon poetry. You must not imagine that this 
book was a printed work, like those we have now. It was 
carefully written on parchment, or sheepskin, which was 
then used instead of paper, and the initial letters were 
painted in bright colours and surrounded by fancy designs. 

Written books are called manuscripts, and as soon as 
the young princes caught sight of this illuminated, or 
painted, manuscript, they crowded around their mother to 
see and admire it. The queen, who was much more 
learned than many women of her time, told them it con- 
tained delightful stories, and promised that she would make 
a present of it to the first who could read it to her. 

You may not think that this was a very great reward, 
as you can get a gaily painted book for a few pennies ; but 
books in those days were so costly that they were worth 
more than a large farm. 



47 

Alfred was so anxious to win the prize, and especially 
to know what the book could tell him, that he lost no time 
in seeking a teacher and in beginning to learn to read. In 
those days, when there were no primers or readers, often 
no division between the words, and very little punctuation, 
it was much harder to learn how to read than it is now. 

But Alfred was the kind of boy that would not give up ; 
and although no one forced him to go to school, he kept 
at his self-appointed task, and tried so hard that he soon 
learned how to read. Then he went to his mother with 
the manuscript, and not only read, but also recited, the 
greater part of the poems it contained ; and she was so 
delighted that she gladly gave him his hard-earned prize. 

Having learned a little, Alfred was now eager to know 
more ; and, hearing that nearly all manuscripts were written 
in Greek or Latin, he learned both languages, although he 
had no grammars, or dictionaries, or easy books such as 
you have now. 

King Ethelwulf wanted Alfred to be king in his place 
when he died ; but the Witenagemot decided that the 
three elder princes should reign first. These rulers were 
obliged to war against the Danes, who would not stay 
in the Danelagh ; and we are told that Alfred laid aside 
his books and helped them fight eight battles in one year. 

In spite of all this, the Danes spread farther and farther ; 
and when Alfred became King of England, at the age of 
twenty-two, he found he had very little land left. Be- 
sides that, the Danes had destroyed so much property that 
all the Saxons were very poor. Even the king had hardly 
enough to eat ; but Alfred was as generous as he was 
poor, and when one of his subjects once came to beg at 



4 8 



his door, he bade his wife give the man half of the last 
loaf of bread in the house. 

The Danes grew so bold that the king was forced, at 
one time, to assume a disguise and take refuge in the hut 
of a poor herdsman. Although these poor people had no 
idea that the wanderer was the king, they asked him to 
come into their little house, and gave him a seat near the 
fire. All the Saxons were noted for being good to strangers, 




Sir David Wilkie, Artist. 



King Alfred in the Herdsman's Cottage. 

and they would have considered it very wrong not to treat 
them as well as they could. 

One day Alfred was sitting near the fire, either mend- 
ing his bow and thinking how he could drive the Danes 
out of the realm, or reading a book which he had hidden 
in the bosom of his dress. The herdsman's wife, who was 
baking flat cakes of bread on the hearthstone, bade her 
guest watch and turn them while she was busy elsewhere. 



49 

Alfred, thinking of more important matters, forgot all 
about the cakes, and let them burn. When the woman 
came back, she was angry with the king, and scolded him 
roundly, saying that, although he was too lazy to turn the 
cakes, he was ready enough to eat them. 

Instead of punishing the woman for speaking so to him, 
Alfred said he was sorry to have let the cakes burn, and 
promised to do better another time. You see, although 
he was a king, he was not afraid to acknowledge that he 
had done wrong; and we are told that the next time the 
woman bade him watch her cakes, he did it very well. 



**=;< 



XV. ALFRED CONQUERS THE DANES. 

SHORTLY after this accident with the cakes, Alfred 
went to join his followers in a fortified camp in the 
centre of a swamp. Here he made a bold plan to conquer 
the Danes. Before he could carry it out, however, he had 
to know just how many Danes he should have to fight, 
where their camp was situated, how it was guarded, and 
where the general's tent stood. 

To find out these things, Alfred disguised himself as a 
bard, took his harp, and walked boldly into the Danish 
camp. The soldiers were glad to see a bard, and, gather- 
ing around him, called for song after song. 

Alfred now sang and told them all the stories he knew ; 
and as he sang and played on his harp, he glanced around 
him and noticed the number of men. The soldiers were 
so pleased with Alfred's songs and jests that they led him 

STO. OF ENG.— 4 



50 

to their general, Guth'rum, who, after hearing him sing 
and play, gave him some gold and praised his skill. 

Alfred tarried in the Danish camp a few days, and 
made such good use of his eyes and ears that he found 
out enough to enable him to win a great victory over 
the Danes at Eth-an-dun'. He then signed the treaty of 
Wed'more with them, and gave them their choice, either to 
become Christians and keep the peace, or to leave England. 

Most of the Danes preferred to stay, but a few of them 
joined a pirate chief named Hastings, and a few years 
later they came back with him, to try to recover their lost 
ground. But Alfred again managed to defeat them, and 
made them promise to stay in the Danelagh, the part of 
the country which he said they might occupy. After 
this, the Danes lived on the northeast side of Wat'ling 
Street, — one of the old Roman roads which ran from Dover 
to Chester, passing through London, — while the Anglo- 
Saxons occupied the land on the other side of it. 

To frighten away the pirate Danes, and keep the Picts 
and Scots in order, Alfred built ships, and once a year 
he sailed all around the islands, to see that all was well. 
This is considered the beginning of the English navy, and 
by the time you have finished reading this book, you will 
see that England owes much of her prosperity to her fleet, 
and that she is justly known as the " Queen of the Sea." 

The beginning of King Alfred's reign was mostly taken 
up in fighting; but when he had made peace with the 
Danes, he began to think how he could best help his peo- 
ple. To make the best use of his time, Alfred divided his 
days into three equal parts : one for sleeping, eating, and 
amusement ; one for business ; and one for study. 



5i 

As there were no clocks in King Alfred's day, and as 
the sundials marked time only when the sun shone, Alfred 
had candles made of such size and thickness that they 
would burn a certain length of time. These candles were 
notched to divide the day into equal periods. But the 
king soon noticed that the candles burned unevenly, owing 
to draughts. When you hear that glass was used only in 
a few churches, and that the palace windows were closed 
only by rude wooden shutters, you can readily understand 
that there were many draughts, and that when the wind 
blew the candles flickered, went out, or burned too fast. 
To prevent this, King Alfred had boxes made of thin 
pieces of horn, in which to place the candles ; so he may 
fairly be considered the inventor of the first lantern. 

The time which Alfred spent in study was devoted in 
part to framing wise laws for his people ; and we are told 
that he executed justice so carefully that no one dared 
steal in all his realm. It is even said that golden bracelets 
hung on a tree in a lonely spot for more than a year, and, 
although there was no one near to guard them, no thief 
ventured to lay a finger upon them. 

King Alfred not only made good laws for his people, 
but he established the first real schools in England. As 
there were no books in Anglo-Saxon, Alfred patiently 
translated many of the Greek and Latin works into his 
own language. He encouraged teachers to come and settle 
in his kingdom, and bought many manuscripts. We are 
told that he once gave a whole estate for a work on geog- 
raphy — a work which was considered wonderful then, 
although it gave far less information on the subject than 
the poorest and cheapest book printed in our day. 



52 

In Alfred's time, people studied languages more than 
anything else. There was, indeed, little else to study. 
Science and history were sadly neglected. In arithmetic, 
only Roman numbers were used, so even learned men 
found it hard to work out simple sums, and said that the 
study was beyond human understanding! But when 
Ar'a-bic numbers were introduced, in the twelfth century, 
arithmetic became much easier — so much easier that to- 
day children in the primary department can do sums that 
would have been almost impossible to the simple wise men 
of the ninth century. 

You must not think, however, that the Saxons worked 
all the time. They liked to play, and when they could 
not run, or jump, or practise archery (shooting with a bow 
and arrow) outdoors, they sat by the fire, told stories, 
and sometimes played chess or backgammon. 

King Alfred is remembered not only as a good general, 
a wise ruler, and a learned man; he is famous also for his 
patience, his perseverance, and most of all for his noble 
and truthful character. This is so w r ell known that he is 
generally called Alfred the Great, or Alfred the Truth- 
seller. Although he always worked very hard, he was 
not strong, and after suffering for years from a terrible 
disease which none of the doctors of his time could cure, 
he died in the year 901. Just before he breathed his last, 
King Alfred said : " This I can now truly say : that so 
long as I have lived, I have striven to live worthily, and 
after my death to leave my memory to my descendants in 
good works." 

It is because Alfred lived worthily that he has always 
been honoured as England's greatest king; and all the 



53 

English-speaking race has reason to respect the man who, 
among many other benefits, translated all the gospels into 
the Anglo-Saxon language for his people's use. 



■:«=•< 



XVI. A KING'S NARROW ESCAPE. 

KING ALFRED was buried in Win'ches-ter, and his 
son Edward, called the Elder to distinguish him from 
other kings of the same name who came after him, reigned 
in his place. The new king was busy, during the greater 
part of his reign of twenty- five years, in fighting the Danes, 
who wanted to invade his territory. 

Edward the Elder was followed by his son Ath'el-stan 
the Glorious, who also had to struggle with the invaders. 
The Danes then had a very clever young leader named 
An'laf. He fancied that if he could get into the Anglo- 
Saxon camp, as Alfred had once made his way into the 
ca'mp of the Danes, he would be able to find out just 
where Athelstan slept, and could come again with his army 
to murder the king in his sleep. 

Disguised as a bard, so the story runs, Anlaf went into 
the English camp, where he was not recognized, and where 
he played so well that Athelstan gave him a piece of 
money. Now the young Dane hated Athelstan, and was 
so proud that he took the money only so that the king 
should not suspect who he really was. But as soon as he 
got out of the camp, he forgot all caution, and, digging a 
hole in the ground, buried the coin his enemy had given 
him. 



54 

One of the Anglo-Saxon soldiers, who had once served 
Anlaf, saw him bury the money, and recognized him. After 
watching him out of sight, this soldier told Athelstan all 
he had seen. But when the king angrily inquired why he 
had not spoken sooner, so that the Danish leader could 
have been captured, he answered : " I once served Anlaf 
as faithfully as I am now serving you. If I betrayed him, 
you could not trust me not to betray you. But now you 
know your danger, and I advise you to change the place 
of your tent, lest he should come and attack you when 
you do not expect him." 

King Athelstan followed the soldier's advice, and it was 
well that he did so; for that very night Anlaf broke into 
the camp, and, rushing straight to what he took for the 
king's tent, he killed a bishop who happened to be sleeping 
there. 

The Saxons fought all that night and the next day, so 
this encounter is often called the Long Battle, as well as 
the battle of Bru'nan-burgh. As Athelstan won the vic- 
tory, the Danes left him thenceforth in peace. 

Like Alfred, Athelstan was anxious that his people 
should learn as much as possible, so he had the whole of 
the Scriptures translated for them into Anglo-Saxon. He 
also encouraged commerce, and said that every merchant 
who made three journeys to the Mediterranean should 
receive the title of thane, or nobleman. It was no easy 
matter to travel in the tenth century, but the hope of 
winning this title induced many merchants to make these 
long and dangerous trips ; and every time they came home 
they brought new things and new ideas to benefit the 
Anglo-Saxon people. 



55 



XVII. THE KING AND THE OUTLAW. 

ATHELSTAN left no children, so he was succeeded by 
/\ his young brother Edmund, who is surnamed the 
Magnificent. This prince was only eighteen when he came 
to the throne, but he was very brave. He conquered the 
province of Cum'bri-a, and gave it to Malcolm I., King of 
Scotland. 

Edmund also defeated the Danes, who had risen up 
against him, and he might have done much more for his 
people had he not come to a very sudden death in rather 
a strange way. It seems that he had given strict orders 
that all robbers should be driven out of the country. A 
noted outlaw, notwithstanding this command, once entered 
the king's hall and boldly sat down at his table. Angry at 
this impudence, Edmund sternly ordered the man to go 
out. The robber insolently refused to obey, and when 
the king's cupbearer tried to turn him out by force, he 
began to resist. Then, before any one else could interfere, 
Edmund sprang up from his seat and tried to fling the in- 
truder out of the house. 

In the scuffle that ensued, the thief stabbed the king. 
The latter fell, and the people attacked the robber, who, 
leaning against the wall, fought with the courage of de- 
spair, until he was overpowered and killed. 

Edmund was only twenty-four when he died, and as his 
children were babies, the Witenagemot chose his brother 
Ed'red for their next king. This prince soon had his 
hands full ; for when the Danes heard that Edmund was 
dead, they again rose up against the Saxons. After de- 



56 

feating them, Edred decided that they should no longer 
be ruled by one of their own princes, but by an English 
governor who would keep them in order. 

Edred was so young when he began to reign, that he 
generally followed the advice of a very clever priest called 
Dun'stan. While Dunstan was only a man like his fellow- 
men, he was unusually clever and able; so the common 
people fancied that he was gifted with powers more than 
human, and told strange stories about him. 

They said that when he was only a boy Dunstan had 
already shown that he was not an ordinary child, and in 
proof of it they whispered that he walked in his sleep ! Of 
course, we know that when a person is unable to sleep 
soundly and quietly, it is only a sign that he is not quite 
well ; but the people in Dunstan's time fancied it was some- 
thing very strange. When Dunstan saw that they admired 
all he said and did, he took advantage of that fact to get 
all he wanted, and, as he was very ambitious, he soon be- 
came the most important man in the kingdom. 

Once, when his services were not needed at court, he 
took up his abode in a cell so small and low that he could 
neither lie down nor stand up in it. Here he prayed and 
fasted, and worked at a forge, and people came from far 
and near to admire him and exclaim in wonder at his great 
goodness. They often talked with him, and believed all 
he said, although we are told he once said that the devil 
came to visit him, and that he seized the fiend by the nose 
with his red-hot pincers! 



57 



XVIII. THE MONASTERIES. 

KING EDRED, being as simple and credulous as the 
people, like them imagined that Dunstan was a saint, 
and obeyed him in everything. Dunstan, being a priest, 
wanted to have only priests who shared his opinions in 
England, so he began to found new monasteries in differ- 
ent parts of the country. 

These monasteries were large houses, where many men 
lived together under the orders of one of their number, 
the abbot, or prior, whom they elected to be their master. 
The monks, as the dwellers in monasteries were termed, 
were good men who thought they could best serve God 
by promising never to marry, always to obey their su- 
perior, and, among many other things, to lead simple and 
holy lives. 

Near each monastery, or forming part of it, there was 
a church or chapel, where the monks assembled several 
times a day, and even in the night, to say their prayers 
and sing hymns. They all ate their meals together in a 
large hall, called the refectory ; and while they ate, one of 
their number read aloud to them from some holy book. 

Each monk had his own sleeping room, a narrow little 
place called a cell, where there were sometimes a hard bed, 
a stool, and a crucifix ; but very often the monks slept on 
the floor, with a stone or a log of wood for a pillow. Their 
only covering was a rough woollen dress which they wore 
summer and winter, and which was often fastened around 
the waist by a rope. 

Each monk was expected to do something for the good 



58 

of the rest. Some of them studied, preached, and copied 
manuscripts in the monastery library, or scri-ba'ri-um, 
while others cooked, sewed, wove cloth, tilled the ground 
around the monastery, or watched the cows and sheep. 
They were good, earnest, and charitable men, so every- 
body loved and respected them, and the poor and igno- 
rant often came to them for help and advice. As many 
people gave them land and money, the monasteries soon 
became very rich. 

Besides the monasteries, or religious houses for men, 
there were similar places for women. These were called 
convents, or nunneries, and the women who dwelt in them, 
the nuns, were under the orders of an abbess, or prioress. 

The nuns, besides looking after their own housekeeping, 
took care of the poor and sick, and taught young girls. 
Their main occupation, however, was needlework, in which 
they soon excelled. Besides sewing for themselves and 
for the needy, these holy women made fine lace and deli- 
cate embroidery, which they either gave to the church or 
sold to the wealthy. 

XIX. AN UNLUCKY COUPLE. 

DUN ST AN was the real ruler of England during the 
reign of Edred. When that king died, and Ed'wy, 
the sixteen-year-old son of Edmund, succeeded him, the 
priest was still at the head of affairs. But Dunstan had 
been master so long now that he often forgot to show the 
king due respect. 

Edwy had married El-gi'va, a beautiful, gentle, and lov- 



59 



able girl. But as she was his cousin, and as they had for- 
gotten to ask the pope's permission to marry, Dunstan 
made up his mind to separate the young couple. Now 
we are told that on the night of Edwy's coronation the 
young king slipped out of the noisy banquet hall, and went 
to join his bride and her mother in their quiet apartment. 
Dunstan was very angry when he perceived this, for he 
did not wish the king to see Elgiva any more, and he 
considered it very rude of the king to leave his guests. 

The priest's temper so completely overcame his good 
judgment, that he rushed into the queen's rooms and 
dragged Edwy back into the banquet hall. Not content 
with this, Dunstan soon went further, and tried to separate 
Edwy and his wife. First he bade the king send her 
away; but, as Edwy did not obey, some stories tell us 
that Dunstan had the young queen's face branded with a 
red-hot iron, in hopes that the king would cease to love 
her when she was no longer pretty. 

Young as he was, Edwy was too much of a man to de- 
sert the poor little queen ; and, knowing that Dunstan had 
used some of the public money, the king promptly took 
advantage of this fact to banish him. But although Dun- 
stan was gone, he had given his orders to a friend of his, 
who seized the young queen and had her carried off to 
Ireland a prisoner. Then, hoping to make more trouble 
for Edwy, this same wicked man stirred up the monks 
and the king's brothers to rebellion, awing the people by 
performing wonders which he called miracles, but which 
were probably clever tricks, such as are now done to amuse 
people. 

Poor Edwy did not know what to do, and when he heard 



6o 



that his beloved Elgiva, after escaping from Ireland to 
rejoin him, had been overtaken by her enemies and cruelly 
murdered, he became so ill that we are told he died of a 
broken heart, after reigning only three years. 

As soon as Edwy died, one of his young brothers was 
placed on the throne, and Dunstan, coming back to Eng- 
land, again took the power into his own hands. The new 
king, Edgar, never dared disobey Dunstan in anything ; 
and when he died, many years later, the monks who wrote 
his history, by Dunstan's order, declared that he was the 
best monarch that ever lived. 

During his reign, Edgar not only fought the Danes, 
but frequently sailed around the islands with a fleet of 
three hundred and sixty ships, to overawe the people and 
prevent them from daring to disobey his laws. Eight 
princes are said to have recognized Edgar as their master, 
and on one occasion to have rowed his barge across the 
river Dee to do him honour. 

Although Edgar was none too good himself, he made 
severe laws for his people, and insisted upon their keeping 
the Sabbath day very strictly. We are told that Edgar 
accepted from the Welsh king the tribute of three hun- 
dred wolfskins, instead of a money payment. The result 
was, it seems, that the Welshmen hunted the wolves in their 
mountains so persistently that soon not one of these wild 
beasts was left to frighten the people in England and Wales, 
and devour their sheep or their children. 

One of the chroniclers tells a very romantic story. King 
Edgar, he says, wished to marry ; and when he heard that 
El-fri'da, a Saxon princess, was noted for her beauty, he 
sent one of his courtiers to see if she was really handsome. 



The courtier no sooner beheld this maiden than he fell in 
love with her himself, so, without telling her that the king 
wished to sue for her hand, he wooed and won her. 

Upon returning to court, this man told the king that 
Elfrida's charms were not very great, and at first Edgar 
believed him. But after a while he began to suspect that 
his courtier had deceived him, and suddenly announced 
that he was going to visit the bride. 

The courtier bade his wife wear her old clothes and 
make herself as unattractive as possible ; but Elfrida, who 
was proud of her beauty, disobeyed him. She seemed so 
beautiful that the king wanted her for his wife, and with 
her aid he murdered the courtier who had deceived them 
both. Then Edgar married Elfrida, who, as you see, was 
not at all a good woman, although she was so handsome. 



3^C 



XX. ST. DUNSTAN. 

WHEN Edgar died, the Witenagemot chose Edward, 
his eldest son, to succeed him. This choice greatly 
displeased Edward's stepmother, Elfrida, who wanted her 
own son to reign. One day soon after his coronation, the 
young king, who had been out hunting, stopped at Corfe 
Castle to greet his little brother, whom he dearly loved. 
As he was about to ride away, Elfrida came out on the 
doorstep to give him a cup of wine. Edward gladly ac- 
cepted it ; but while he was drinking, Elfrida made a sign 
to one of her servants, who suddenly drew his dagger and 
thrust it into the king's back. 



62 



Although mortally wounded, Edward drove his spurs 
into his steed, which galloped wildly away. The king 
soon grew too faint to sit upon his horse, and as he fell 
from the saddle, his foot caught in the stirrup, and he 
was dragged over the rough roads by the frightened animal. 
When his followers found him, Edward was dead, and by 
Dunstan's orders he was buried in the chapel of West- 
minster, which had just been finished. 

On account of his death, this monarch is known in his- 
tory as Edward the Martyr. He was succeeded by his 
little brother Eth/el-red, the child who was standing be- 
side Elfrida when the murder was committed. 

When Ethelred came to the throne, at the age of ten, 
Elfrida deprived Dunstan of much of the power which he 
had exercised during so many years and under four pre- 
vious kings. The priest was so angry at being set aside 
that he withdrew to his seat at Canterbury, where, we are 
told, he died of chagrin. The monks, whom he had be- 
friended all his life, were naturally very grateful to him, 
and either because he was better than some stories would 
make us believe, or because they did not know all the 
wrong he had done, they always regarded him as a very 
good man, and at their request he was placed among the 
saints of the Roman Catholic Church. 

Elfrida had, as we have seen, not only made her son 
King of England, but reigned in his name. She was not 
a happy woman, however, for she was haunted by the 
recollection of the crimes she had committed. She there- 
fore left the court to withdraw into a nunnery, where she 
spent the rest of her life in penance and prayer. 

You have seen how some Danes had settled in Eng- 



63 

land. A little before Dunstan's time, some other North- 
men went with their leader Rollo to France. This Rollo 
was so tall and heavy that none of the Northmen's little 
horses could carry him, and as he was thus forced to walk, 
he was known among his people as Rolf Gang'er, or Rollo 
the Walker. He forced the French king to give him a 
province in northern France, which, as it became the home 
of the Northmen, or Normans, has ever since been known 
as Nor'man-dy. In exchange for the land, and the title 
of Duke, Rollo promised to consider the French king his 
overlord, and to do homage to him. 

To do homage, a nobleman knelt before his monarch, 
placed both hands between the royal palms, and in that 
position took his oath of fealty, or faithfulness. Then, 
the oath taken, he stooped and kissed the king's foot. 

When Rollo was told what he was to do, he angrily 
refused to comply. But after the French courtiers had 
argued with him some time, he called one of his men, and 
bade him go through the ceremony for him. The huge 
Northman obeyed with ill grace, and took the necessary 
oath. But when he was told to kiss the king's foot, instead 
of stooping down to do so, he violently jerked it up to his 
lips, thus making the king lose his balance and fall over 
backward. 

XXI. KING CANUTE AND THE WAVES. 

KING ETHELRED was a weak, ignorant, and timid 
monarch, and as he was never able to determine 
wisely what was best to do, he was surnamed the Unready. 



6 4 

Three times during his reign the Danes invaded his terri- 
tory, and three times he paid them large sums to go away. 
This money was raised by a yearly tax, called the Dane'- 
geld, or Danes' money, and the Danish king, Sweyn (swan), 
promised to keep the peace as long as it was paid. 

Ethelred promised to treat all Danes kindly and to pay 
the Danegeld regularly, but he soon regretted his prom- 
ise, and made a plot to have all the Danes in the kingdom 
murdered on St. Brice's day, in the year 1002. This mas- 
sacre was carried out, and as King Sweyn's sister perished 
with the rest, he soon came over to England to avenge 
her death. 

After some resistance on the part of the Anglo-Saxons, 
Sweyn became master of the country, and Ethelred the 
Unready fled to France with his wife Emma, who was a 
daughter of the Duke of Normandy. But the Danish king 
died the very next year, and, although an attempt was 
made to place his son Ca-nute' upon the throne, the 
Witenagemot sent for Ethelred, who again became king. 

The Saxon monarch had learned nothing by his former 
misfortune, so before long the Danes came back, and war 
was waged between Canute and Ethelred's son Edmund 
Ironsides. After some time, the two forces met at As- 
san'dun in battle, and when the fight was over it was 
agreed that the land should be divided between the Saxon 
and Danish kings, and that the one who lived longest 
should be sole ruler. Ethelred having died during the 
struggle, Edmund Ironsides and Canute became kings. 
But the former did not live very long, and after his death 
Canute reigned alone. 

Canute had been very stern and cruel at first, so as to 



65 

make the people afraid to disobey him ; but when he be- 
came sole King of England he tried to please his subjects. 
Many of the Danes were sent home, the English were made 
his officers, good laws were established, and peace and 
order reigned throughout the land. 

As Canute was not married, he took Emma, Ethelred's 
widow, for his wife, became a Christian, and went on a pil- 
grimage to Rome, to receive the pope's forgiveness for 
his sins. About ten years after becoming sole King of Eng- 
land, Canute conquered Norway, and because he thus ruled 
two kingdoms, he was regarded as a very powerful king. 

Besides being brave, Canute was wise and just, so he 
had plenty of admirers ; and his courtiers, hoping to please 
him, often remarked that he was sole lord of land and sea. 
This flattery was distasteful to Canute, so he made up his 
mind to give his courtiers a lesson. 

One day, at low tide, he bade his servants place his 
throne far down upon the beach ; and accompanied by his 
courtiers, in their richest robes, he went down there and 
took his seat. Grouped around him, and still paying their 
stupid compliments, the courtiers kept a watchful eye upon 
the waves, for they did not wish to get their clothes wet. 

When the tide turned they ventured to suggest to the 
king that he have his throne set farther up on the beach. 
Canute carelessly said that he did not want to move, and 
that as they vowed he was lord of land and sea, he would 
bid the waves stand still. But although he stretched out 
his sceptre and ordered the water not to come near him, 
the waves rose higher and higher, till the spray drenched 
the courtiers' fine clothes and forced them and the king to 
beat a hasty retreat. 

STO. OF ENG. — ; 




Canute on the Seashore. 



67 

When they were beyond the reach of the tide, Canute 
gravely told his courtiers that God alone was master of the 
sea, and made them feel so ashamed of their senseless talk 
that they never ventured to flatter him again. 



D 



XXII. A SAXON NOBLEMAN. 

URING the war between the English and the Danes, 
in the reism of Ethelred or of Edmund Ironsides, a 
Danish nobleman, separated from his companions, lost his 
way. As he was afraid of falling into the hands of the Eng- 
lish, he began to look about him for a guide. 

He soon discovered a poor little hut, and, boldly enter- 
ing, asked the Saxon peasant who dwelt there to help him. 
Now you know the Saxons were noted for their kindness 
to their guests; so, although the peasant knew this man 
was an enemy, he gave him food and drink and promised 
that his son should guide him safely back to the Danish 
camp. But the peasant asked in return that the Dane 
should keep the youth in his service ; for if the lad came 
back, and the Saxons discovered that he had helped an 
enemy, they would sureh kill him. 

The Dane, led back to his companions by the Saxon 
youth God 'win, took him into his household, and found 
him very useful. Godwin was clever and ambitious, and 
worked so hard and so faithfully that he finally became one 
of the principal officers of Canute. We are told, further, 
that he even married one of the king's relatives. 

Canute died after a reign of eighteen years, leaving his 



68 



kingdom to three of his sons, who were to be kings of Nor- 
way, Denmark, and England. The last-named throne he 
intended for his youngest boy, Emma's son, Har-di-ca- 
nute'. But another of Canute's sons, Harold, who was sur- 
named the Harefoot because he could run so fast, took 
possession of the greater part of England. 

Godwin at first took the part of Hardicanute, and made 
war against Harold. But after a while he changed sides, 
and some historians tell us that one of his daughters finally 
married Harold. 

Hardicanute, instead of fighting, lingered in Denmark, 
allowing his mother Emma to rule in his stead over the 
small part of England which Harold had not won. The 
sons of Ethelred, hearing there was war in England, now 
hoped to recover their father's kingdom ; but they did not 
succeed. One of them, Alfred, was made prisoner and 
cruelly put to death. Although Godwin was accused of 
this crime, it could not be proved, so he was acquitted. 

The English soon grew tired, of being neglected by Har- 
dicanute, and said they would rather belong to Harold, 
who thus became sole king. But when Harold died, Har- 
dicanute came to" England to rule over the whole country 
in his turn. Godwin, who had once deserted him in favor 
of Harold, now tried to win his forgiveness by making him 
a present of a beautiful galley, whose oars, rigging, and hull 
were gilded all over, so as to make it look like a golden 
ship. Hardicanute graciously accepted Godwin's present, 
but never fully trusted the man again. His reign was very 
short, for after ruling two years he died as he stood drink- 
ing at a wedding feast. 

The English were now tired of Danish kings, so the 



6 9 

Witenagemot chose Edward, Ethelred's son, to rule over 
them next. Edward gladly accepted the crown, and the 
people welcomed him by a great festival. Some say that 
it was held every year, in memory of his coronation; but 
others claim that Hock'day, as the festival is called, cele- 
brates the massacre of the Danes on St. Brice's day. 

The people were still more joyful when Edward put a 
stop to the Danegeld, a tax which they had been forced to 
pay for many a year. Their new king was gentle and very 
pious, and spent so much of his time in penance and prayer 
that he was considered a very holy man and called the 
Confessor. He was very fond of the Normans, among 
whom he had been brought up, and would gladly have 
made them his sole advisers, but he did not dare to do so 
as long as Godwin lived. This Saxon nobleman was still 
the most important man at court, and he tried to gain 
more power by making the king marry his daughter Edith. 
Edward, however, never cared for her, and when Godwin 
lost his power, some time after, the poor queen was shut 
up in a nunnery, and all her property was taken from her. 

As people fancied that the mere touch of so holy a man 
as Edward could cure them, many sick were brought to 
him ; and for several centuries after this, it was the custom 
for the King of England to lay his hands upon people 
who were afflicted by a certain disease called the " king's 
evil," because he was supposed to have inherited Edward 
the Confessor's power to heal it. 

Edward built many churches and monasteries during his 
reign, and would have liked to go to Je-ru'sa-lem to visit 
the Holy Sepulchre. He was not able to do so, however, 
for his Norman friends and Godwin were always quarrel- 



ling. Tired of these disputes, Edward once turned angrily 
upon Godwin, then restored to favour, and accused him 
of having taken part in the murder of Prince Alfred. 

Godwin, who was then sitting at table, denied the crime, 
adding that he hoped the food he was then eating would 
choke him if he were not telling the truth. One story 
says that he choked to death on the next mouthful. 
According to another version, the king, in anger, bade 
him leave the country, and while he was doing so the 
Norman nobles pursued and murdered him in the place 
now known as Goodwin Sands. Still another story, and 
this is the most probable, says that while sitting at the 
king's table Godwin was stricken dead by an attack of 
apoplexy. 

A few years later, after having given his people good 
laws, Edward the Confessor died, and was buried in West- 
minster Abbey, in the chapel which bears his name. With 
his death begins a new epoch in English history, when the 
Normans came in their turn to take possession of the land 
which had belonged to the Gaels, Celts, Britons, Romans, 
Anglo-Saxons, and Danes. 



£0<t 



XXIII. LADY GODIVA'S RIDE. 

BEFORE we go on to the conquest of England by the 
Normans, you will like to hear the stories of two 
events which have become very famous because two great 
English poets, Tennyson and Shakespeare, have used them 
as the subjects of a beautiful poem and a fine tragedy. 



/I 



In the middle of the eleventh century, many of the 
English towns and villages were under the rule of harsh 
Saxon noblemen. One of these noblemen was Le-of'ric, 
Earl of Mercia and Lord of Cov'en-try. He was so anxious 
to get richer that he once imposed a heavy tax upon the 
inhabitants of Coventry. 

When the people heard of this, they were in despair, 
for it was impossible to pay it and have enough money 




Lady Godiva. 



left to buy food. As they knew it was useless to appeal 
to the hard-hearted earl, they went to his wife, the beauti- 
ful Lady Go-di'va, and implored her to help them, or they 
and their children would starve. 



72 

Lady Godiva was as good as she was beautiful, and al- 
though she was afraid of her cruel husband, she went to 
him, begged him not to tax the people, and promised to 
do anything he wished, if he would only spare them. 

" Very well, then," cried the brutal earl ; " ride through 
the town at noonday, naked, and the people shall not be 
taxed." 

When Lady Godiva heard this, she shrank with horror ; 
for she knew, her husband would tax the people unless she 
rode naked through the town. But although she was as 
modest as beautiful, and would rather have died than do 
an unwomanly thing, she made up her mind to go through 
this frightful ordeal rather than see the people starve. 

By her orders, a herald rode through the town, telling 
the people what the earl had said, and bidding them all 
stay in their houses, with closed doors and windows, and not 
glance out until it was twelve o'clock, and Lady Godiva 
had passed by. These orders were obeyed, and when the 
trembling Godiva stole out of her room, clad only in her 
long hair, which rippled down to her knees, no one was to 
be seen. She mounted her horse, rode all through the 
town, and back; and because she had done this, her hus- 
band did not tax the people, who were grateful to her as 
long as she lived. 

We are told that there was only one man in the city who 
was mean enough tc try to peep at Lady Godiva as she 
rode by. This man, who was a tailor, and who has ever 
since been known as Peeping Tom of Coventry, was severely 
punished, however ; for before he had caught a glimpse of 
Godiva, he was stricken blind; 

The second story is not so pleasant. During the reign 



73 

of Edward the Confessor, Dun'can was King of Scotland. 
Among his followers there was a nobleman named Mac- 
beth'. He was a very ambitious man, and, advised by his 
wife, he murdered the Scotch king one night when the 
monarch was sleeping in his house. Duncan dead, and his 
sons having fled to England, Macbeth became king in his 
turn, and reigned over Scotland seventeen years. 

But he never enjoyed the crown, and he and his wife 
were haunted by remorse night and day. An old prophecy 
had made Macbeth believe he would rule for ever, for it 
said he would be king until " Bir'nam woods came to 
Dun-si-nane'." But one day when Macbeth was in Dun- 
sinane Castle, one of his servants cried out that the forest 
was coming. Macbeth rushed to the window in time to 
see that a large army had come to attack him, and that 
each soldier carried a leafy bough which he had cut in 
passing through Birnam woods. The prophecy had come 
true, for Birnam woods had come to Dunsinane, and though 
Macbeth fought bravely, he was slain by Duncan's sons. 

The poet Shakespeare has written a grand tragedy about 
this story of Macbeth. The play is one of the greatest 
treasures of English literature, and when you are older 
you will read it over and over again with ever new delight. 



XXIV. THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS. 

WHEN Edward the Confessor died, in 1066, leaving 
no children, there were several claimants to the 
English throne. One of them was Harold, the son of God- 



74 

win, who was chosen by the Witenagemot to be the next 
king. It seems, moreover, that Edward the Confessor had 
picked out the same Harold to succeed him. 

The Duke of Normandy, also a relative of Edward, 
claimed that the throne should belong to him. He said 
that Edward had once promised to name him his successor, 
and added that when Harold was shipwrecked in Nor- 
mandy he solemnly swore to help the duke get possession 
of the English crown. 

According to some histories, William, Duke of Nor- 
mandy, had forced the shipwrecked Harold to make that 
promise. The Saxon prince, thinking an oath under such 
circumstances could not be binding, laid his hand upon a 
small relic which William placed on the table. But as 
soon as the words were spoken, the duke removed the cloth 
which covered the table, and showed Harold a pile of the 
holiest relics that could be found. 

Of course, in these days a promise is a promise, but in 
the time of Harold it was considered more binding if made 
upon several relics than if upon one. If Harold really 
promised to give William the throne, he should have done 
so, but you will find in some histories that Harold made 
no such promise, and hence did not break his word when 
he accepted the crown. 

However that may be, Harold was no sooner named 
king than he found himself compelled to fight against the 
Danes, who invaded his kingdom on one side, and the 
Normans, who were coming on the other. 

Harold, who is known as the " Last of the Saxons," be- 
cause he was the last Saxon king, promptly collected his 
army, and, marching rapidly northward, met and defeated 



75 

the Danes at Stamford Bridge. But scarcely had he won 
this victory, when a herald came in great haste to announce 
that the Normans were crossing the Channel in many ships. 
Without giving his men a moment to rest, Harold 
marched them from Stamford Bridge to the shore at Has- 
tings, where he arrived three days later, only to find that 
the Normans had already landed. 

We are told that as William was leaving his boat he 
stumbled and fell. People were very superstitious in those 
days, so some of his followers began to mutter something 
about evil omens and bad luck. But William, who was very 
quick-witted, laughed aloud, and, seizing some sand in his 
hands, he cried that he now held England fast. This gave 
his men new courage, and when they met Harold's army 
at Sen'lac, a few miles away, they fought with great energy. 

For a long while the battle raged furiously, and it seemed 
doubtful how it would end. Then, suddenly, a cry arose 
that William had been killed, and his men paused in dismay. 
But before they could turn and flee, he put spurs to his 
horse, and, snatching his helmet from his head so that all 
might see his face, rode through the ranks, crying, " I am 
still alive, and, with the help of God, I shall yet conquer." 

The Norman soldiers, encouraged by these words, again 
attacked the weary Saxons, who fought bravely, in spite 
of the terrible rain of Norman arrows, until they saw their 
king fall dead. When the battle was over, and William 
remained victor, Harold's lady-love came to look for his 
body. She found it under a heap of slain, on the very 
spot where he had fought gallantly to the last. A Norman 
arrow was sticking through his eye into his brain, and his 
hand still grasped his sword. 



76 

- Some historians say that Harold's body was buried in 
an abbey near London. Others declare that William or- 
dered that he should be buried on the shore, saying, "He 
guarded the coast while he was alive ; let him continue to 
guard it after death." Upon his grave, wherever it was, his 
lady is said to have put this epitaph : " Here lies Harold 
the Unfortunate." 

XXV. THE CONQUEST. 

THE great battle of Senlac, or Hastings, was won. 
Harold, " Last of the Saxons," was dead; and Wil- 
liam, now called the Conqueror, was ruler of England. 
Although he had no real claim to the crown, William 
took it by force, and England became his by conquest. 

This battle of Hastings, fought in 1066, is one of the 
great battles of the world, because it decided the fate of 
England, which was now to be ruled, not by a Saxon king 
chosen by the wise men of the kingdom, but by a monarch 
who spoke Norman French, brought new laws and customs, 
and meant to be absolute king. 

William's wife, Queen Matilda, was so proud of his vic- 
tory at Hastings that she and her women worked a wonder- 
ful piece of tapestry, sixty-eight yards long, on which the 
landing of William and the principal features of the battle 
are all represented. This wonderful piece of needlework 
still exists, and is known as the Bayeux (bah-yuh') tapestry. 

The battle at Hastings was the only great battle which 
William had to fight, for the Saxons, who had been masters 
of England for about six hundred years, dared no longer 




John Cross, Artist. 



Coronation of William the Conqueror. 



(77) 



7§ 

resist him. As William advanced, the towns opened their 
gates to him, and he marched right on to London, where 
he was crowned in Westminster Abbey, on Christmas day. 
There were great rejoicings at his coronation, but the occa- 
sion was marred by a terrible fire, which broke out during 
the service and did much damage to the city. 

William, having become King of England, gradually 
took possession of the land, which he distributed among 
the Normans who had come with him into England. Thus 
Saxon land passed into the hands of the Normans, and many 
of the noblest families in England now proudly claim that 
they "came over with the Conqueror." At court, in 
church, and in all the noblemen's houses, Norman French 
was the language spoken; but Anglo-Saxon remained the 
speech of the humbler people, who, for the greater part, 
became the servants of the Normans. 

The new masters of England not only brought over a 
new language and new customs, but they also began to 
build houses in a new style. They did not think that the 
low, rambling, wooden houses which the Saxons and 
Danes had occupied were fit for noblemen ; so they sent 
over to Normandy for workmen to teach their new serv- 
ants how to build Norman castles. 

As you may never have seen such a castle, I will try to 
make you understand how it looked. In the centre there 
was a huge round or square tower, built of stone, with enor- 
mously thick walls, and with only slits for windows. This 
tower was called the dungeon, or keep, and was generally 
occupied by the lord and his family. They spent most of 
their time in the principal apartment, called the hall. 

Around the keep there was an open space, paved with 



79 



stone. This was inclosed by one or more very thick walls, 
in which were built rooms for the servants, stables, gran- 
aries, armouries, etc. The 
ou1 



iter wall of the castle was $*~ 
particularly strong, and was Jc™ 






%> i 






surmounted by a parapet and 
towers, where men at arms 
were always on guard. 

Directly under this wall 
there was often a deep and 
wide ditch, filled with water ; 
this was called the moat. , 
When a person wished to get 
into the castle, a drawbridge 

'aHBS 

was lowered over the moat, 'E 
and the portcullis, or iron 
gateway which closed the en- 
trance to the castle, was 
drawn up to let him pass into the inner court 




Caesar's Tower, Warwick. Castle. 



j',<*Kc 



XXVI. LORDS AND VASSALS. 

WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR repulsed the 
Danes, who tried once more to gain a footing in 
England, and subdued the few Saxon lords who still op- 
posed him. Then he built a few castles to keep order in 
the principal cities of his new realm. The most noted of 
these castles is the great Tower of London (p. 80), which 
you will often find mentioned in this book. 



8o 



Although the conquest of England was made after only 
one great battle, it took twenty years before it was quite 
completed and the last attempts at rebellion were put 
down. Every time a Saxon lord disobeyed, or was killed 



? p jinn ? 


■lit Um. . *gq Sf ^1. *» 


W~"'^tWWHB :! : ^i 




f ■ " ^* 1! SMite* 






^'^^ifi^fti^iiiii'iiiiiliSliiiBiil 


- - J ""Z =.------ 



Tower of London. 

in battle, his lands were given to some Norman nobleman, 
who, in return, swore to be faithful to William. 

It was thus that with the Normans the feudal system 
came into England. Now, as you probably do not know 
what the feudal system was, I am going to try to make it 
clear to you. When a king gave lands to one of his fol- 
lowers, he did so on condition that the new owner should 
remain his vassal, or servant, and should supply him with 
a certain amount of money and men in time of war. 

The lord or baron — for by some such title these noble- 
men were generally called — had full power over his. terri- 
tory, and could even make war upon his neighbours. He 
usually gave part of his estates to his followers, who in 



8 



their turn promised to obey him. This kind of ownership 
of land — ownership depending on personal service — was 
called a feud, and hence this whole system was called 
feudalism. By it each lord was the vassal of a king, and 
the master of other vassals of lower rank. 

To make sure that order should be maintained in his 
new realm, William held each lord responsible for the good 
behaviour of his vassals. It was also decreed that a bell 
should be rung every evening, as a signal that all the fires 
and lights should be put out. This bell was called the 
curfew bell ; and as the people had no more light, they 
were obliged to go to bed early. 

Instead of trying criminals by the old Saxon methods, 
by ordeal or by jury, the Norman barons introduced the 
fashion of making the accuser and the accused fight to- 
gether, declaring that the innocent would always prevail. 
Of course this was not true, for the wrongdoer was often 
the stronger of the two ; but for many years these fights, 
called judgments of God, or judicial duels, were often re- 
sorted to in England. 

To make sure that he should know exactly how his land 
was divided, who owned each field and house, and how 
much tax each landowner could afford to pay, William 
had commissioners visit all parts of the realm. These men 
wrote down what they learned, keeping the record in a 
very old and celebrated book, which is called the Domes- 
day or Doomsday Book. It is written on vellum, a very 
fine kind of parchment, and is carefully kept as a great 
curiosity in the British Museum. 

You must not imagine that the Conqueror gave away 
all the land. On the contrary, he was careful to keep a 

STO. OF ENG.— 6 



82 



large share of it for himself, and, as he was very fond of 
hunting, he had no less than sixty- eight forests full of 
game. As this did not seem enough, he laid waste a huge 
tract of more than one hundred and forty square miles, 
where thirty-six churches and many pretty villages had 
once stood. This land was made into a huge hunting 
ground, called the New Forest, and no one was allowed 
to hunt in it without the permission of the king. 

William made several visits to Normandy, and on his 
return from one of these excursions, finding that the Arch- 
bishop of Canterbury had not been faithful to him, he put 
a learned man named Lan'franc there in his stead. This 
man helped the king to govern, and to settle the affairs of 
the English Church. 

XXVII. DEATH OF WILLIAM. 

KING WILLIAM was not a happy man, in spite of all 
his conquests. His three sons gave him much trouble, 
and once, when the two younger lads playfully threw some 
water upon their elder brother as he was passing under 
their window, a terrible quarrel broke out. 

Robert, the elder, declared that his brothers had insulted 
him, and wanted to kill them both in his rage. When 
his father reproved him, Robert said he would not stay in 
England, and asked to be allowed to return to Normandy 
and govern this province, which his father had once prom- 
ised him. William refused to grant this request, so Rob- 
ert fled to Normandy, where, joining some discontented 
noblemen, he declared war against his father. 



83 

Forced to bear arms against his son, William crossed 
the Channel with an army, and after several years' warfare 
father and son met face to face in battle. As William's 
visor (the steel grating which protected a warrior's face) 
was down, Robert did not recognize his father until he had 
knocked him off his horse and was about to kill him. 

Full of remorse, Robert begged William's pardon, helped 
him to rise, and offered him his own horse. But William 
was too angry just then to forgive him and, vaulting upon 
the steed, he rode testily away. It was only some time 
after, and owing to the queen's entreaties, that father and 
son became friends once more. Shortly after this,, good 
Queen Matilda, a descendant of Alfred the Great, died, 
and was sorely missed. 

The rest of William's life was spent in warfare, and his 
last campaign was in France, where he went to subdue a 
revolt of the Normans, whom the French had induced to 
rebel. The Conqueror was old, stout, and in poor health ; 
but when he heard that the King of France was making 
fun of him because he was fat, he vowed revenge. 

He therefore attacked Mantes (moNt; map, p. 114), a 
small town, where, after killing most of the inhabitants, he 
had the houses set afire. As he was riding through the 
place on the next day, his horse stepped on some hot 
ashes, and, rearing and plunging wildly, flung the king 
heavily against the pommel of his saddle. 

The blow was so violent that William was mortally in- 
jured. His men carried him off to a neighbouring village, 
where he gave his last orders. He said that his son Robert 
should have Normandy ; his namesake, William, England ; 
and his youngest son, Henry, a large sum of money. 



8 4 

The three young princes were so anxious to take pos- 
session of their inheritance that they all rushed away 
without waiting until their father had breathed his last. 
The king's servants followed their example and fled also, 
carrying off everything they could lay hands upon. Even 
the sheets of the bed upon which William lay were 
snatched away from him, and the thief escaped, leaving 
the king's body on the ground, where it had rolled. 

Some monks found the dead monarch lying on the floor, 
all alone, and charitably prepared to bury him. But when 
they had dug a grave for him in a church William had 
founded, a man stepped forward and said that the ground 
was his. The king, he declared, had never paid him for 
it, so his body should not be buried there. 

The priests bought the soil ; but the grave proved too 
small to hold so large a corpse, and the priests had to 
force it into the hole, while the few spectators fled in 
horror. The king, who had won a large part of France 
and all England by his sword, was thus buried like a 
criminal ; and as he had shown no mercy to any one, no 
tears were shed over his grave. 



V-^C 



XXVIII. THE BROTHERS' QUARRELS. 

WILLIAM II., or Rufus, so called on account of his 
red hair, hastened over to England and took posses- 
sion of the treasure and of the principal royal castles. Then 
he was crowned king in Westminster Abbey, by Lanfranc, 
the good Archbishop of Canterbury. 



85 

As long as Lanfranc lived, William Rufus did not dare 
show how cruel, selfish, and grasping he really was. But 
when Lanfranc died, people began to see the king in his 
true colours. To get money was the new ruler's principal 
aim ; so he forced the people to pay heavy taxes, and made 
the churches and monasteries give him large sums. 

The Anglo-Norman barons (those followers of William 
who had settled in England, married English wives, and 
had thus become Englishmen) did not want William Rufus 
to be their king. But William made such fine promises 
to the Saxons that they helped him against the barons, and 
thus enabled him to keep possession of the throne. 

This was not the only war which William Rufus had to 
fight, for we are told that he and Robert attacked their 
brother Henry. They wanted to force him to give up 
some land which he had purchased from Robert. Of 
course this was very unjust and unbrotherly behaviour; 
but the war went on until at last Henry was besieged in 
the fortress on Mont St. Michel (moN saN mee-shel'). 

This castle stands on a huge rock near the French coast, 
and while it is connected with the mainland by a causeway 
at low tide, it is entirely surrounded by water the re- 
mainder of the time. On the narrow strip of beach at the 
foot of the castle, William was once thrown from his horse 
in the midst of the fight. He would have been killed 
had he not cried out, " Hold! I am the King of England." 
A soldier who was about to kill him helped him to rise, 
and in reward William Rufus took the man into his service. 

The brothers now learned that Henry and his men had 
nothing to drink. Although Robert was not much better 
than William, he immediately sent Henry water for his 



86 



men and wine for his own use. This generosity made 
William angry, but Robert hotly answered: " What! shall 
I suffer my "brother to die of thirst? Where shall we find 
another when he is gone? " 

Henry now had plenty to drink, but he could not hold 
out much longer ; and after surrendering he left the coun- 
try, with only a few followers. 

In those days it was considered an act of great piety to 
journey on foot to Jerusalem, to visit the tomb of our 
Lord. When the Romans ceased to be masters in the 
East, the Sar'a-cens took possession of the Holy Land. 
They freely allowed pilgrims to come and go ; but when 
the Turks took Jerusalem, in 1065, matters changed. 

The pilgrims, who were often called palmers, because 
they brought home palms as relics, were now very harshly 
treated. One of them, a monk named Peter the Hermit, 
was so indignant at the cruelty of the Turks that, as 
soon as he came back to Europe, he won the pope's per- 
mission to preach a holy war against them. 

He visited different parts of Europe, preaching so 
eloquently that most of his hearers vowed they would go 
and fight the Turks. Every one who promised to do this 
wore a cross on his shoulder ; and because crux is the 
Latin word for cross, these men were called crusaders, 
and their wars, crusades. 

Peter the Hermit was so earnest that many noblemen 
joined the first crusade ; among others, Robert of Nor- 
mandy, who promised to set out with an army. Now you 
know it is far from Normandy to Jerusalem, so before 
Robert could undertake this journey, he had to raise 
money to pay his travelling expenses. 



87 

When William II. heard this, he offered to lend his 
brother quite a large sum, on condition that Robert should 
promise to give up Normandy if he could not pay back 
the money at the end of five years. Robert consented, 
and set out ; but as soon as he was gone William vowed 
that he knew his brother would never pay back the 
borrowed money, and that Normandy was already his. 
He therefore started out to take possession of his new 
lands, and was in such a hurry to get there that he 
haughtily cried, when the pilot objected that the sea was 
rough: " Sail on instantly; kings are never drowned!" 

Because William thus took possession of his brother's 
lands, he was forced to make several wars. He was also 
called upon to resist the Norwegians, who made a last but 
unsuccessful attempt to get possession of England. Wil- 
liam was still busy scheming how he could get more land 
and money, when his life came to a sudden end, after he 
had reigned thirteen years. 

It seems that while he was waiting for a favorable wind 
to carry him over to Normandy, he went out to hunt in 
the New Forest. He gave Sir Walter Tyr'rel, one of his 
followers, two new arrows, and rode out with him and 
many others. In the course of the hunt, the king and 
Tyrrel, pursuing a deer, were separated from the rest of 
the party. According to some accounts, Tyrrel drew his 
bow to kill a stag, and his arrow, glancing aside after touch- 
ing an oak tree, struck the king and killed him instantly. 
Tyrrel, dreading an accusation of wilful murder, rode to 
the sea, embarked on the first vessel he found, and joined 
the crusade, hoping thus to win forgiveness for his involun- 
tary sin. Other accounts say that Tyrrel had nothing to 



88 



do with the king's death, but a few declare that he was a 
real murderer. 

The body was found by a charcoal burner, who carried 
it to Winchester in his cart. There William II. was buried 
with very little ado, for no one really regretted him. 



^c 



XXIX. ARMS AND ARMOUR. 

THE news of the sudden death of William Rufus no 
sooner reached his brother Henry, than he rode off 
in haste to Winchester, to take possession of the royal 
treasure. The keeper at first refused to let him have 
it, saying it belonged to Robert; but when Henry drew 
his sword, the poor man was forced to yield. 

Henry I., the third Norman king of England, is sur- 
named Beauclerc (bo-klark'), or the Scholar, because he 
was more learned than most men of his day. He had 
spent much of his time in study, and was proud of his 
knowledge, for he had once heard his father say, " Illiter- 
ate kings are little better than crowned asses." But al- 
though Henry knew many things, he never thought it 
worth while to be really good. 

To win friends he treated the Saxons very kindly, re- 
stored the laws of Edward the Confessor, married Matilda, 
one of the last descendants of their old royal race, recalled 
An'selm, Archbishop of Canterbury, whom William Rufus 
had banished, and gave offices to many priests. But, 
while he made friends of the Saxons, many of the Nor- 
man barons refused to acknowledge him as their feudal 



8 9 

lord, and joined Robert when he came home from Pal'es- 
tine. As Robert declared war, Henry collected his troops ; 
but when the two armies came face to face, a peace was 
made. It was then settled that Henry should keep Eng- 
land, but should pay Robert a yearly sum of money. 

Henry had no intention whatever of keeping his prom- 
ises, and, hearing that his brother was not on good terms 
with the Normans, he determined to gain possession of 
their province also. He therefore crossed the Channel 
with a large army, and met and defeated his brother at 
Tinchebrai (taNsh-bra'), in 1106. Robert was not only 
defeated, but carried off to Cardiff Castle. There his eyes 
were put out in the most cruel manner, and he was harshly 
treated until he died, twenty-eight years later. 

After the battle of Tinchebrai, Henry took possession 
of all his brother's estates. But although he was now 
master of both England and Normandy, he was far from 
happy, for his conscience troubled him. Hoping to atone 
for the wrong he had done, he built a beautiful abbey at 
Reading (red'ing) ; but as this did not appease his remorse, 
he tried to forget his wrongdoing by keeping very busy. 
It was easy to- find plenty to do, for the King of France 
had taken Robert's young son under his protection, and 
was trying to recover Normandy. 

The war was therefore resumed, but even in one of the 
worst encounters, the battle of Brenneville (bren-veel'), the 
English lost but three men. All the rest escaped death, 
owing to their fine armour, which no weapon could pierce. 
The armour of those days, of which you can see fine 
specimens in the principal museums, consisted of a helmet, 
or steel hat, with a visor, or iron grating which could be 



90 



drawn down over the face. This helmet fitted so closely 
upon the coat of mail, which covered the body, that there 
was no crevice through which an arrow, or the point of a 
sword or dagger, could be inserted. 

The coat of mail was composed either 
of iron plates, of tiny steel links closely 
woven together, or of small plates like 
scales screwed together, and was hence 
called either plate, chain, or scale armour. 
Steel gauntlets, leggings, and shoes, a 
sword, a battle-ax, a shield, and a huge 
lance generally completed the outfit of 
a warrior. 

As the armour was very heavy, the 
knights had to be very strong ; and as 
the horses were also covered with ar- 
mour, they were trained to bear great 
weights. But although it was hard to 
find a joint in the armour through which 
to wound a knight, it was possible for an 
adversary to unhorse him by riding hard 
against him and tumbling him over 
backward out of his saddle by a blow of a lance. 

A knight thus unhorsed, and lying on his back, could 
not rise without help, owing to the great weight of his 
armour, and consequently he was at the mercy of his 
enemy. The latter could either kill him, or take him 
prisoner and keep him in captivity until he had paid a sum 
of money, which was called ransom. 




Man in Armour. 



9i 



XXX. THE "WHITE SHIP." 

TO make sure that Normandy should continue to be- 
long to his family, Henry went over there with his 
son Prince William, to present him to the nobles as their 
future lord. Henry was about to embark with all his fol- 
lowers, to go back to England, when a seaman came up 
to him, begging him to sail in his vessel, the White Ship. 
As William the Conqueror had once promised this captain 
the privilege of taking the royal family across the Channel, 
King Henry now bade his son William sail in it. 

The king's vessel set out ahead, but the prince delayed, 
spending the last hours in Normandy in feasting. He sent 
plenty of wine to the boatmen, that they might drink his 
health, and when he finally set sail he bade the half- 
drunken sailors row fast, so as to overtake his father's ship. 

Before the White Ship had gone very far, it ran upon a 
sunken reef, stove a hole in its bottom, and began to sink. 
The captain hurried Prince William into a small boat, and 
pushed away ; but the prince heard his sister call for help, 
and insisted upon going back to save her. 

As the small boat drew near the sinking vessel, so many 
frightened people crowded into it that it sank at the same 
time as the White Ship, with all its living freight. It was 
thus that Prince William died the death of a hero ; but we 
are told that, although he did so noble a deed in the 
face of great danger, he was, on the whole, an unfeeling 
lad. Indeed, he is reported to have said that when he 
became king he would make- Englishmen draw the plough 
themselves, like beasts of burden. 



92 

The White Ship went down, but three men were still 
afloat, clinging to a few spars which were tossing up and 
down on the waves. These men were the captain, a noble- 
man, and a Norman butcher. As soon as the captain could 
speak, he wildly inquired, "Where is the prince ? " When 
he heard that William had gone down with the rest, he let 
go his hold and sank into the sea. 

The nobleman clung to the spar all night ; but when 
morning came he was too exhausted and cold to hold on 
any longer, so he also was drowned. The only person 
saved was the butcher. When the calamity became 
known, no one dared tell the sad news to the king. Fi- 
nally a weeping boy was sent to him ; and when Henry 
learned why the child's tears were flowing, his heart was 
filled with such intense grief that he never smiled again. 

Henry's son was dead, and his sole living child was 
Matilda, the widow of the Emperor of Germany. She 
now married Geoffrey (jefry), Duke of Anjou (ahN-zhoo'), 
who was surnamed Plan-tag'e-net because he generally 
wore a sprig of yellow broom (planta genista) in his cap. 

No woman had ever ruled over England then, but 
Henry wanted Matilda to be his successor, and to make 
sure that she should inherit his crown, he made all the 
barons swear fidelity to her. They did so reluctantly, be- 
cause in those troublous times it seemed that t'he country 
could be safe only under an able-bodied man and a warrior. 

Having taken these precautions, Henry fancied that he 
had made Matilda's succession certain. He reigned thirty- 
five years, lived to see his three grandsons, and we are 
told that he died from eating too many lampreys, a kind 
of fish of which he was very fond. 






93 



XXXI. MATILDA'S NARROW ESCAPES. 

FOREMOST among the barons who had sworn to up- 
hold Matilda was Stephen, her cousin, a grandson of 
William the Conqueror. Yet Henry was no sooner dead 
than Stephen took possession of the throne. He also had 
himself crowned at Westminster, and was recognized as 
King of England by the pope. 

Stephen's manners were very pleasant, so he soon made 
many friends. As he knew Matilda would want to wrest 
the sceptre from him, he tried to gain both rich and poor 
by making many promises. He told the poor that he 
would give them a charter, or new set of laws, and he 
granted the barons more freedom, and permission to build 
as many castles as they pleased. 

As the death of the king had been sudden, Matilda, 
who was then on the Continent, was not at once able to 
take any measures to defend her rights. But she soon 
sent over to claim the throne, and as Stephen would not 
give it up, she induced her uncle, David, King of Scotland, 
to invade England. 

This monarch marched into England before Stephen 
could summon an army to oppose him. But a brave 
priest in the north of England, seeing the danger, collected 
an army on the spot and sent it to meet David. 

As there was no king present to lead this army, the 
priest set up a standard in a chariot, and placed it in the 
midst of the army, telling the warriors it was their duty 
to defend their standard as loyally as their king. The 
battle which ensued has therefore been called the Battle of 



94 

the Standard. The English were victors, but they bought 
complete peace from the Scots by giving them a large 
tract of land in the northern part of England. 

Matilda, in the meantime, had been busy collecting an 
army, which, as she herself could not fight, and as her hus- 
band was dead, was commanded by one of her relatives, 
Robert of Gloucester (glos'ter). When this army appeared 
in England, many Norman barons joined it, because they 
were tired of Stephen, who had not kept his promises. 

A civil war now broke out between Stephen's and Ma- 
tilda's parties in England. The castles which were already 
standing were fortified and garrisoned, and many others 
were built on all sides. Under pretext of fighting for the 
king or the queen, as the case might be, the nobles living 
in these castles attacked one another, and burned and stole 
so freely that they are known as the robber barons. 

Whenever Stephen found fault with these noblemen 
and tried to punish them, they joined Matilda's party ; and 
soon the whole country was in an uproar. Stephen be- 
sieged Matilda in Bristol ; but she escaped, collected 
another army, and met him again near Lincoln. Here 
Stephen was defeated and made a prisoner. 

Matilda next rode in triumph to London, where she was 
named queen. But as she was haughty and violent-tem- 
pered, and kept pressing the people for money, which they 
were too poor to give her, they soon began to hate her. 
In their anger they drove her out of the city and forced 
her to take refuge in Winchester, where Stephen's brother 
came to besiege her. 

Queen Matilda seems to have been fated to have narrow 
escapes, for she managed to pass out of this castle, and 



95 

through the enemy's ranks, on the back of a fleet horse. 
But Robert of Gloucester, less lucky, was captured by 
Stephen's party, who refused to set him free unless Matilda 
would give them Stephen himself in exchange. 

Stephen and Robert of Gloucester, therefore, changed 
places, and the war was renewed. Matilda, cornered 
again, now slipped through the hands of her enemies by 
pretending to be a corpse, and being carried out in a horse- 
litter. 

Stephen, who had sworn never to give up until she was 
his prisoner, now besieged her in the Castle of Oxford, 
where, in spite of scant rations, the garrison held out until 
midwinter and until snow covered the ground. When 
Matilda saw that her brave defenders could not hold out 
much longer, she planned a bold escape. Clad in white 
from head to foot, so as not to be discovered against a 
snowy background, she crept out of the castle one dark 
night with three knights, crossed the river on the ice, and, 
walking six miles, came to a place of safety. 

Here she met Robert of Gloucester, with Prince Henry, 
her eldest son, and the war went on for some time longer. 
But Matilda's energy was nearly exhausted, and, disheart- 
ened by the death of her chief supporter, Robert of Glouces- 
ter, she finally went back to Normandy. Then Prince 
Henry carried on the war alone; and in the year 1 1 5 3, 
after eighteen years of civil war, he agreed, at the treaty 
of Wariing-ford, to leave the crown to Stephen as long as 
the latter lived, provided it should pass on to him at the 
king's death. 



9 6 



XXXII. THE STORY OF FAIR ROSAMOND. 

STEPHEN, the last of the four Norman kings, died just 
one year after the treaty of Wallingford, leaving no 
children, so Henry had little trouble to get the crown. He 
is called Henry II., the Shortmantle, and is the first of 
the An'ge-vine or Plantagenet kings. 

The new monarch was only twenty-one years old, and 
as he was handsome, graceful, and learned, he soon made 
many friends. Both the Saxons and the Normans were glad 
to have him reign, and as he dismissed the foreign soldiers 
whom Stephen had enlisted, issued good coin, and restored 
law and order, he became very popular. 

Besides being one of the cleverest, Henry II. was one 
of the most powerful kings of his time. He inherited 
several French provinces from his father, and his wife ET- 
ean-or brought him more land. Indeed, he was lord over 
more territory in France than the French king himself, 
so it is no wonder the latter was jealous of him. 

Although his wife Eleanor was rich, she was so bad-tem- 
pered and cruel that Henry could not love her, and, if we 
are to believe one very romantic story, he neglected her 
in order to visit a beautiful young lady, called Fair Rosa- 
mond. This made Queen Eleanor so jealous that she re- 
solved to kill her beautiful rival. 

It was not easy to find Fair Rosamond, however, for 
the king had built a maze for her at Woodstock, and her 
bower was in the centre of this labyrinth. Although the 
way to it could be found only by using a silken thread as 
clue, Eleanor suddenly appeared before Fair Rosamond 



97 

one day, and told her she must die, sternly bidding her 
choose between the dagger and the bowl of poison which 
she held. We are told that the cruel queen forced Fair 
Rosamond to drink the poison. But all this happened so 
long ago that no one knows whether it is true; still, ever 
since then, when people have to take one of two evils, they 
are said to have no choice except between the dagger and 
the bowl. 

During the long civil war in the last reign, the barons, 
as we have seen, had built many castles and waged many 
private wars. They had learned to do just as they pleased, 
to respect no one's rights, and to rob, murder, and burn. 
No one had been safe in the realm, except such as dwelt 
in the monasteries or convents, and it is no wonder that 
these were full, for people took refuge in the only place 
where they could dwell in peace. 

Henry could not allow the barons to go on thus, and one 
of his first acts was to call them to order. He made war 
against all those who would not obey him, and had many 
of the fortresses pulled down, so that the robber barons 
could no longer take refuge behind their strong walls. To 
satisfy the people, he gave them the charter which Stephen 
had promised, and decided that criminals should be tried 
by a jury of twelve men. Trial by ordeal was not entirely 
abolished, but men were no longer forced to prove their 
innocence by conquering their accusers in battle. 

The priests had hitherto been tried only by their own 
class, who inflicted very slight punishments upon them, but 
Henry now declared that if a priest or monk did wrong 
he should be tried and punished just the same as any other 
man. This change in the law was opposed for some time, 

STO. OF ENG.— 7 



99 

and it was only after a long fight with the clergy, or 
church party, that the new laws were passed. They were 
carefully drawn up at last, and are known in history as 
the Constitutions of Clar'en-don. 



y^c 



XXXIII. THOMAS A BECKET. 

IN the beginning of his reign, Henry was often helped 
by the good advice of a man named Thomas a Becket 

A very pretty story is sometimes told about this man's 
mother. His father Gilbert, it seems, had gone to Pales- 
tine on a crusade or as a merchant. In some way he be- 
came the prisoner of a Saracen lord, and would have been 
obliged to remain in a dungeon all his life, had not the 
Saracen's daughter fallen in love with him. She helped 
Gilbert to escape ; and then, thinking she could not live 
without him, she too started off for England, hoping to 
find her lover. She persistently said the word London 
over and over again until she reached that city. Then 
she changed her refrain and wandered up and down the 
streets, crying, " Gilbert! ".which was the only other Eng- 
lish word she knew. Strange to relate, Gilbert heard her 
cry, and, rushing to meet her, took her into his house, 
where she became his wife. 

Thomas a Becket, the son of Gilbert and of this Sara- 
cen lady, received such a good education that he was asked 
to teach the king's children. Henry soon became very 
much attached to him, and he rose from rank to rank until 
he became chancellor of the kingdom, and keeper of the 



IOO 



great seal, an impression of which was placed at the bot- 
tom of every royal decree. 

Henry II. not only raised Thomas a Becket to a high rank, 
but also gave him great wealth. The chancellor delighted 
in fine clothes, had many followers, lived in beautiful houses, 
and spent his money freely. He was on such good terms 
with his royal master that they often had friendly disputes. 

One day, when the king was riding out with Thomas, a 
beggar stepped up, asking for alms. Henry slyly asked 
Becket whether it would not be a very good deed to give 
the poor man a warm cloak. Becket answered that it 
certainly would ; but when the king laid hands upon the 
beautiful mantle he was wearing, and tried to pull it off, 
he resisted. The result was a scuffle, and finally Henry 
gave so strong a tug that he tore the cloak off the chan- 
cellor's back. He then tossed it to the astonished beggar, 
and rode away, laughing at Becket's dismay. 

In the first part of the king's reign, Becket, who was 
also a priest, helped him in his disputes with the clergy. 
Because of this, Henry decided that Becket should be 
named Archbishop of Canterbury. The priest of this 
cathedral was the primate, or principal clergyman, in the 
kingdom, and Henry fancied that when Becket was in this 
position he would go on helping him. 

The king was mistaken, however, as he soon found out. 
No sooner had Becket become Primate of England than 
he suddenly changed. He no longer wore beautiful clothes 
or lived luxuriously. On the contrary, he wore the plain- 
est garments, ate simple food, and, instead of leading a 
merry life, spent all his time in penance and prayer and in 
doing good. 



IOI 



Henry did not like this sudden change at all ; but what 
made him most angry was that Thomas a Becket, instead 
of helping him subdue the rebellious priests, now became 
the most obstinate and resolute of them all. He bitterly 
opposed the Constitutions of Clarendon, refused to recog- 
nize any other master than the pope, and declared that 
Henry should obey the Church in all things, instead of 
trying to be sole master in his kingdom. 

The quarrel between the king and his archbishop grew 
more and more bitter, until finally Becket left England and 
went over to France. Here he stirred up trouble for 
Henry by persuading the French king, Louis, to invade 
the English king's possessions there, and by threatening 
Henry with excommunication, or expulsion from the Church. 
Henry was, of course, very indignant when he heard this ; 
but a meeting was soon brought about, and king and pri- 
mate were publicly reconciled. To show the people that he 
and the priest were again good friends, Henry even held 
the stirrup of Becket's mule and helped him to mount it 
when Becket had once thrown himself at the king's feet. 



3^C 



XXXIV. THE MURDER OF THOMAS 
A BECKET. 

HENRY and Thomas a Becket did not long remain on 
good terms, for the primate was as haughty as ever. 
During Becket's absence Henry's son had been crowned 
as his heir. The primate said no one had the right to 
perform such a ceremony without his consent. He there- 



102 



fore excommunicated the bishops who had done so. When 
this news reached Henry, he angrily cried: " Of the cow- 
ards who eat my bread, is there not one who will free me 
from this turbulent priest?" 

These rash words were unhappily taken in earnest by 
four of his knights, who, leaving his presence, went over 
to Canterbury to murder Becket. They were so deter- 




('. //. Weigall, Artist. 



Martyrdom of Thomas a Becket. 



mined to kill him that they forced their way into the 
cathedral, crying, "Where is the archbishop? Where is 
the traitor? " 

" I am the archbishop, but no traitor," answered the 
primate, proudly, as he came forward to meet them. But 
they rushed upon him, weapons in hand, and in spite of 
his struggles struck him down at the foot of the altar. 



IQ3 

Then, frightened by what they had done, they fled in 
haste, and, troubled by remorse, went to Palestine. They 
never dared come back to England, but died and were 
buried in the Holy Land, where these words were written 
on their tombstone: "Here lie the murderers of St. 
Thomas of Canterbury." 

This murder, which the king had not positively ordered, 
excited great indignation among the people. They loudly 
mourned the archbishop, and buried him in the cathedral 
at Canterbury. Soon after, the pope declared that he was 
a saint and a martyr, so the pious began to visit his tomb 
in crowds. Before long the rumour spread that those who 
visited it were healed of any disease from which they hap- 
pened to suffer, and that even the dead came back to life. 

The result of this report was that pilgrims came from 
all parts of the world to pray at the shrine of St. Thomas 
a Becket. Every fifty years there was a special celebra- 
tion, called a jubilee; and on one of these occasions no 
less than one hundred thousand pilgrims came to the grave 
of the murdered primate. 

When the pope heard how Becket had died, he wanted 
to excommunicate Henry; that is to say, to forbid his en- 
tering a church or being considered a child of God. The 
people fancied that they need no longer obey a man who 
had been so wicked as to quarrel with a priest, and Henry 
saw that unless he did something to please the pope he 
would soon have no more power. He therefore went over 
to Ireland, conquered the country, and made the rebellious 
people obey the priests of the Catholic Church. Then he 
solemnly swore that he had not intended to kill Becket. 

The pope consented to forgive him, but even then 



104 

Henry's troubles were not ended. His sons revolted ; and 
Henry, hoping to gain God's help to subdue them, pre- 
pared to do public penance for his share in Becket's murder. 
He therefore walked to Canterbury barefoot, spent the 
night in prayer at the saint's tomb, bade the eighty monks 
there beat him on his bare shoulders, and by thus humili- 
ating himself brought the monks and his subjects to think 
less severely of his sin. The same day his army won 
a victory, which the people claimed as another miracle 
worked by St. Thomas of Canterbury. 

In the course of his reign, Henry had not only to oppose 
his rebellious children in Normandy, but also to fight their 
allies, the Scotch, Welsh, and Irish. He recovered the 
province which the Scots had won in the preceding reign, 
took their king captive, and became master of a large part 
of Ireland, which he said he would give to his favourite 
son, John, for at that time he fancied that John had always 
been a good son. 

This was not so. All Henry's children were undutiful, 
because they had been badly trained by their mother Elean- 
or. When they first revolted, she tried to escape from Eng- 
land and join them ; but by the king's orders she was 
overtaken and thrust into prison, where she staid as long 
as her husband lived. 

Henry's public penance had made so good an impression 
on his people that they cheerfully helped him against his 
sons; but after some more fighting, Henry was compelled 
to make peace, submit to the terms of the French king, and 
swear to forgive all the rebels. As soon as he had given 
this promise, some one brought him a list of the men who 
had plotted against him ; and Henry was stricken with 



105 

grief when he saw among them the name of his youngest 
son, John. 

This last sorrow proved too much for the poor king, 
who fell sick, and died at the foot of the altar, where he 
had asked to be laid. He had reigned thirty-four years, 
had extended the English territory, and had made many 
improvements in the condition of the inhabitants ; so he 
is remembered as one of England's great kings. 



>>-:c 



XXXV. RICHARD'S ADVENTURES. 

THE year before Henry died, all Europe was sad- 
dened by the news that Jerusalem, which had been in 
Christian hands for eighty-eight years, had again fallen 
into the hands of the Saracens. Another crusade was 
now preached, and the King of France, the Emperor of 
Germany, and a host of their best warriors joined it. 

Henry's sons were anxious to take the cross, too, espe- 
cially Richard Cceur de Lion (ker duh lee-awN'), or the 
Lion-hearted, who had won this surname by his remark- 
able courage. As their father refused to let them all 
go, they rebelled against him ; and in the course of the 
war one of them, Geoffrey, fell very ill. Feeling that he 
was about to die, he regretted his unfilial conduct, and 
sent a pitiful message to Henry, begging him to come and 
forgive him. 

The courtiers tried to persuade Henry that this was 
only a trick on Geoffrey's part. But although Henry did 
not go to his son, he sent him a ring in token of complete 



io6 



forgiveness. Geoffrey died lying on a bed of ashes -to 
show his repentance, kissing the ring, and recommending 
his little son Arthur to his father's care. 

When Henry died, Richard succeeded him on the throne, 
and, now that it was too late, he bitterly regretted having 
ever borne arms against his father. The remembrance of 
this sin made him all the more eager to keep his promise 
and go to Palestine ; for people then supposed that one 
could be forgiven for any sin by visiting the grave of 
Christ at Jerusalem. 

Before he could set out, however, Richard had to take 
possession of his new kingdom and arrange how it should 
be governed during his absence. He therefore crossed 
from Normandy to England, and went to London, where 
he was crowned with great rejoicings. All the people 
were invited to see the festivity except the Jews. In 
those days the Christians were always very cruel to the 
Jews, and besides forcing them to live apart, made them 
wear garments and hats of a dirty yellow colour, so as to 
recognize them from afar. 

Hoping to make the new king kinder to them, some 
Jews came to offer him rich presents ; but the people, 
seeing them, fell upon them, and after beating them began 
to kill them. This outrage became the signal for a series 
of massacres all through the kingdom. We are told that 
the York Jews, after holding out for a long time in a tower 
where they had intrenched themselves, killed their wives 
and children and set fire to the place, so as to die in the 
flames, rather than fall into the hands of the cruel Chris- 
tians. Richard did not try very hard to stop this awful 
massacre, and no one was punished, except a few men who, 



107 

in pursuing the unhappy Jews, injured some of their fel- 
low-Christians. 

Richard first released his mother Eleanor from prison. 
Then, to raise money for the crusade, he sold many offices 
to the highest bidders. For a certain sum of money he 
released the King of Scotland from his vassalage ; he sold 
his castles and estates, compelled his subjects to lend him 
money, and declared that he would sell London itself, if 
he could only find a purchaser rich enough to buy it. 

Then, having secured all the money he needed, Richard 
left the kingdom in the hands of two bishops, and set out 
for Palestine, where he was to play a brilliant part in the 
third crusade. He stopped twice before he got there, once 
at Mes-si'na, to await a favourable breeze, and once at 
the island of Cy'p rus - 

Here the king of the island was very rude to Richard's 
betrothed, the fair Be-ren-ga'ri-a, and unkind to ship- 
wrecked sailors. This made Richard so angry that he took 
possession of all Cyprus and made the king a captive. We 
are told, however, that he was very polite to his royal pris- 
oner, and that, when the latter objected to wearing iron 
chains like a common criminal, he had him bound with 
fetters of silver, a favour which was greatly appreciated 
by the fallen king. 

XXXVI. RICHARD AND THE SARACENS. 

RICHARD left Cyprus as soon as he had married Be- 
rengaria, and sailed on to A'cre, a stronghold on the 
coast of Palestine which the crusaders had vainly besieged 



io8 



for two years. There he was warmly welcomed by the 
Christian host ; but he was so much braver than any of the 
other princes that they soon grew jealous of him. 

Although the city of Acre was very strongly fortified, 
Richard made such daring attacks upon it that the inhabit- 
ants finally promised to surrender in forty days and to 
give back the cross to the Christians. But, hearing that 
their famous chief Sal'a-din had come with an army, and 
that he had hemmed in the Christians around the city, the 
people of Acre did not keep their word. When the forty 
days were over, and Richard saw that they had deceived 
him, he ordered the heads of three thousand Saracen pris- 
oners to be struck off in the presence of their friends on 
the city walls. 

When Saladin heard this, he had as many Christian 
captives slain, and the war was renewed more furiously 
than ever. Richard was very brave, but he was neither 
humane nor gentle, and he soon quarrelled with the King 
of France and the Duke of Austria. Although they re- 
mained with him, these two princes secretly hated him, and 
tried to hinder him in every way. 

For months the fighting went on, and as Richard was 
always in the thickest of the fight, his name became the 
terror of the country. Saracen mothers used to threaten 
naughty children by saying, "Look out; King Richard 
will catch you ; " and when a horse shied, the Saracen 
warrior would cry, " Dost think King Richard is behind 
yon bush? " 

The Saracens, however, were worthy foes for the Chris- 
tian knights; and their leader Saladin was just as brave, 
just as generous, and just as cruel, at times, as the famous 



109 

Richard himself. We are told that these two leaders once 
had an interview, in which each showed his skill in handling 
the sword. While Richard cut a huge bar of iron in two 
with one mighty stroke, Saladin deftly divided a down and 
silk pillow and a floating veil of gauzy tissue, which were 
equally difficult feats. 

Once, during the war, Richard fell seriously ill with 
fever. When Saladin heard that his enemy was sick, he 
made a truce; and as long as the disease lasted, he daily 
sent Richard fresh fruit, and ice and snow which were 
brought down from the top of Mount Leb'a-non. 

The Christians, however, were in the meantime sorely 
afraid of the Saracens, for the latter had the aid of the 
chief of the As-sas'sin tribe, called " the Old Man of the 
Mountain." The subjects of this chief were so devoted to 
him that they would obey him blindly, and he trained a 
number of the youngest and strongest among them to go 
among the Christians and suddenly stab them with poi- 
soned daggers. Because these Assassins never appeared 
among the Christians except to commit murder thus, their 
name has become a common term for one who treacher- 
ously kills a fellow-being. 

Acre was finally taken by the Christians, who now 
began to quarrel among themselves about the naming of 
a king for Jerusalem, which they hoped soon to win also. 
Richard sided with one party, the French king and the 
Duke of Austria with another. The man chosen by the 
latter party was murdered by one of the Assassins, but 
they accused Richard of having had a share in the crime. 

The French king, angry and jealous because Richard 
was reaping all the honours, prepared to return home. 



I IO 



Before he left the crusaders he solemnly promised not to 
make any attempt to take Richard's lands or to do him 
any harm during his absence. But as soon as he arrived 
in Rome, he began to complain about Richard to the pope. 
The pope, however, would not listen to any of Philip's ac- 
cusations, for he knew that without Richard the crusaders 
would soon have to give up all hope of taking Jerusalem. 

Richard, in the meantime, had won a brilliant victory 
over the Saracens at Ar-suf ', where many of the forty thou- 
sand slain fell by his powerful hand. He next wished to 
march on to Jerusalem; but his soldiers were weary of 
fighting, and refused to go farther. 

Richard therefore retreated to As'ca-lon, where he helped 
the Christians rebuild their fortifications, carrying stone 
and mortar with his own hands. This conduct was viewed 
with scorn by the Duke of Austria, who insolently re- 
marked that his father had not been a bricklayer. Some 
historians say that it was this remark which caused a final 
breach between the leaders, and report that Richard re- 
sented it by kicking the lazy and impudent duke. Others 
say that it was a dispute about a flag. However this may 
be, Le'o-pold of Austria left the army soon after this, and 
went home, vowing he would be revenged some day. 



A^.c 



XXXVII. THE FAITHFUL MINSTREL. 



w 



HILE Richard was busy fighting in Palestine, things 
were going on very badly at home. The offices, 
which he had sold to the highest bidders, were filled by 



1 1 1 



men who thought only of growing rich., so law and order 
were very poorly maintained. Prince John, Richard's 
brother, who was surnamed Lackland because his father 
had left him no territory, was a very mean man, and he 
helped to make matters worse. 

When Philip reached France, he became friendly with 
John, and proposed that they should invade Normandy 
together and take possession of King Richard's lands. 
John was quite ready to help him, but the French barons 
all refused to fight for Philip, because he had promised 
Richard not to act as he was doing. 

Rumours of the troubles in England, and of the bad 
designs of Philip and John, came at last to the ears of 
Richard, who decided that it was useless to remain much 
longer in Palestine, and that he had better go home and 
take care of his people. He therefore staid only long 
enough to deliver the Christians whom Saladin was besie- 
ging at Jop'pa. Then, having again defeated his brave rival, 
he signed a truce with him, which was to last three years, 
three months, three weeks, three days, and three hours. 

In spite of the bad season, Richard next embarked 
upon a vessel to return home. But the winds were against 
him, and after tossing about on the waves for many days, 
he was shipwrecked in the Ad-ri-at'ic Sea, and with much 
trouble managed to reach land. 

Left thus without means and without followers, far away 
from home, Richard made up his mind to walk all the way 
across the Continent. As he had to pass through the 
lands of his enemy, the Duke of Austria, he put on a 
pilgrim's dress, hoping that no one would recognize him, 
and that he could thus cross the countrv in safetv. 



I 12 



One day, in an Austrian village inn, one of Leopold's 
men recognized Richard by a ring he had always worn. 
This man told his master, who had the pilgrim seized and 
thrust into a prison, where he kept him for many months. 
Then Leopold sold his royal prisoner to the Emperor of 
Germany, who kept him in another dungeon. 

The rumour that Richard was a prisoner spread all over 
Europe; but while John and Philip rejoiced, and planned 
how to divide his lands, some of Richard's friends grieved 
sorely. His favourite minstrel, a youth named Blon-del', 
anxious to find him, set out alone and on foot, and wan- 
dered all through Germany, it is said, singing as he went 
to earn his daily bread. Whenever he came to a castle, 
Blondel inquired what prisoners were kept there. Months 
had gone by in vain and weary search, when the minstrel 
came at last to Richard's prison. 

He had no idea his quest was ended, and, sitting down 
under the castle walls, he sadly played a tune which was 
known only to him and to his master, and sang the first 
verse of the song. You can imagine his surprise and de- 
light when he heard Richard's familiar voice floating out 
through the grated window, singing the second verse. 

Richard was found. The poor minstrel, who could not 
free his master alone, now hastened back to England. 
Here Eleanor, helped by some of the English, made ar- 
rangements to have the king set free, and collected the 
large sum of money which the Emperor of Germany de- 
manded for a ransom. 

As the whole sum could not be sent at once, some Ger- 
man noblemen accompanied Richard to receive it ; and 
when they saw the city of London, and the delight of the 



H3 



English at recovering their king, they cried : " If our em- 
peror had known the riches of England, your ransom, O 
king, would have been much greater." 



*<*< 



XXXVIII. DEATH OF RICHARD. 

WHEN it first became generally known that Richard 
was about to be released from the prison where he 
had lain in captivity about 
eighteen months, many peo- 
ple were terrified. The most 
frightened of all were John, 
the captive's brother, and 
Philip, King of France. The 
latter, finding he could not 
induce the German emperor 
to detain Richard any longer, 
sent this message to John : 
" Take care of yourself, for 
the devil is unchained." 

When Richard arrived in 
England, he was recrowned, 
to efface the stain of his cap- 
tivity. He found that many 
things had gone wrong in his 
absence, and that as the offi- 
cers he had appointed had 
not done their duty, there 
had been much crime. The 




Statue 



Richard Cceur de Lion. 




( X1 4) 



H5 

castles were occupied by robber barons, and the forests 
swarmed with bands of thieves or outlaws, headed by such 
chiefs as the famous Robin Hood. 

This bold outlaw is said to have lived in Sherwood 
Forest, and such wonderful stories have been told about 
him in old ballads, that it is very hard to know what in 
his adventures was real and what was made up. From 
these old tales we find that Robin Hood was good to the 
poor and robbed only the rich. The spoil which he got 
he hid away in the forest. Hence the woods were known 
as Robin Hood's barn ; and when people want to say that 
they took a roundabout road to get anywhere, they still 
exclaim, " I went all around Robin Hood's barn." 

Although Richard tried to suppress the disorders in his 
kingdom, he was much greater as a warrior than as a 
statesman ; so he did not stay in England long, but 
crossed over to Normandy to make war against Philip. 

When John heard that his brother was coming, he did 
not dare fight, so he went to meet Richard, and, falling 
at his feet, begged his pardon for having tried to steal his 
kingdom during his absence. Richard generously forgave 
his brother, but showed that he did not believe John's 
penitence sincere by remarking soon afterwards : " I wish 
I may forget my brother's injuries as soon as he will forget 
my pardon of them." 

During the next four years Richard was busy making 
war against his French rival ; but at the end of that time 
both kings made up their minds to cease fighting and to 
sign a truce. Then, hearing that one of his vassals had 
dug up a treasure on his lands, Richard sent to claim it; 
for the law decreed that buried treasures belonged to the 

STO. OF EXG.— 8 



n6 



crown. The Lord of Chalus (shah-liis'), however, would 
not give up the gold, so Richard besieged him in his castle. 

As Chalus was a strong fortress, like those we have al- 
ready described, Richard could not take it, in spite of all 
his braverv, and at the end of two months he was so angry 
at being detained, that he vowed he would yet hang every 
man in it. Because of this vow, he refused to accept the 
count's terms of surrender a few days later, and ordered a 
new assault. But in this attack Richard was wounded by 
an arrow; and although the hurt seemed trifling at first, 
the doctors, in cutting out the arrow, made the wound so 
much worse that the king soon saw that he must die. 

While he lay in his tent, awaiting the end, his men took 
the castle, and, by Richard's order, they killed all its de- 
fenders, except the man whose arrow had wounded him. 
This archer was brought before Richard, who asked, 
" What harm have I done to you, that you should thus 
have attempted my death? " 

" You killed my father and brother with your own hand," 
answered the archer, " and intended to kill me. I am 
ready to suffer with joy any torments you can invent, since 
I have been so lucky as to kill one who has brought so 
many miseries upon mankind." 

When Richard heard this he ordered that the man 
should be set free ; but, as the king breathed his last a 
few minutes later, his infuriated men fell upon the archer 
and flayed him alive. The dead king's body was buried 
in Rouen (roo-oN'), and on his tomb you can see a full- 
length stone effigy of this man, who could be in turn gal- 
lant, brave, and generous, and mean, selfish, and cruel. 

Many stories have been written about Richard and his 



ii7 

adventures, and there are writers who have made a hero 
of him. But a real hero would have thought more of the 
welfare of his people, and when called upon to fight would 
have acted just as bravely, but with less cruelty. 



XXXIX. THE MURDER OF ARTHUR. 

RICHARD THE LION-HEARTED, having no chil- 
dren, said that John should succeed him, although 
the crown belonged by right to his little nephew Arthur, 
the son of Geoffrey. A monarch not old enough to reign 
alone seemed very undesirable, so the English were at first 
very much pleased that John Lackland should have the 
crown. They soon found out, however, that he was cruel 
and miserly, and, worse than all the rest, very untruthful. 
He had been a bad son and a bad brother, and now he was 
going to prove also a bad king. 

Philip of France, hearing that the people in Brittany 
were anxious to place Prince Arthur upon the English 
throne, soon excited them to declare war against John 
Lackland. But he did not give them so much help as 
they expected, and the result was that John defeated 
them and put his nephew in prison in Rouen. 

Young Arthur now languished in a gloomy dungeon, 
very near the river, closely guarded night and day lest he 
should escape. But he was so good and gentle that even 
the grim jailers grew fond of him, and so John, fearing that 
Arthur might yet get free and take the crown, determined 
to rid himself of the young prince. 



n8 



No one knows exactly how he did this, but there are 
awful stories told. Some writers say that little Arthur's 
eyes were put out with red-hot irons, in spite of his pitiful 
entreaties to be spared. Others aver that the jailers killed 
him by John's command. But it is generally believed 
that, cruel as they were, the jailers refused to harm the 
gentle child, and that John had to commit the murder 
himself. It is said that he came to the prison one night, 
led the child down to a waiting boat, pushed off into mid- 
stream, and there drowned the unhappy little prince. 

When it became known that Arthur was dead, either by 
his uncle's hand or by his order, the people of Brittany 
clamoured to have John punished, and called upon the 
French king for aid. This monarch then said that as John 
owned provinces in France for which he was obliged to do 
homage as vassal to the French crown, he should appear 
before twelve other lords, his peers, and justify himself, 
or lose his lands in France. 

John must have had an uneasy conscience, for he did 
not present himself before his peers. So the French king 
invaded Normandy, which became his property after be- 
longing to Norman dukes for nearly three hundred years. 
John's other French provinces were also taken from him, 
and he soon had nothing left in France except Guienne 
(gee-en'). 

Besides the troubles in France, John had worries at 
home ; for when the Archbishop of Canterbury died, the 
monks and the pope selected one man, and John another, 
to occupy this position. The result was a religious quar- 
rel, in which the pope showed his displeasure by putting 
John's kingdom under an interdict. That is to say, the 



ii9 



churches were closed, no services were held, no bells rung, 
no baptisms, weddings, or funerals allowed, and all the 
people were under a ban. Four years later, seeing that 
John still refused to obey him, the pope declared that he 
should no longer be King of England, and bade Philip of 
France invade and take possession of the country. 



>>*< 



XL. THE GREAT CHARTER. 

NOW, although the English had no respect for John, 
they did not want to give up their country to the 
French king, so they began to rally around their monarch 
to help him defend the country. The pope then offered 
to forbid Philip to invade England, provided John would 
let Stephen Langton be Archbishop of Canterbury, do 
homage to the pope for the kingdom of England, and 
promise to pay a yearly tribute. 

Promises were very easy to make, according to John's 
ideas; so he consented to everything. He made Lang- 
ton archbishop, humbly laid his crown at the feet of the 
legate (the pope's messenger), allowed him to trample it 
without wincing, and received it from his hand once more, 
after solemnly promising to be the faithful vassal of the 
pope. 

The interdict was recalled, Philip was forbidden to in- 
vade England, and John fancied that all was well. But 
the English barons were disgusted with him for having 
yielded to such shameful conditions. They had always 
prided themselves upon living in a free country, and they 



120 



did not like to be considered the vassals of the pope. Be- 
sides, they were indignant at the way in which John gov- 
erned, and at his methods for getting always more money, 
for you must know that John was as miserly as he was 
untruthful. 

Whenever John heard that a Jew had become very rich 
by trading, he used to send for the unfortunate man and 
torture him until he promised to pay a large sum of money 
for his release. We are told that he imprisoned one 
wealthy Jew, and had one of his teeth pulled out every 
day. At first the man stood this very bravely, but when 
seven teeth were gone, he gladly paid a large sum to keep 
the rest and be set free. 

The example set by the king was followed by the 
barons ; and as a customary mode of torture was to drag 
the Jews over a bed of red-hot coals to make them give 
up their money, some people say that it gave rise to the 
expression " to haul over the coals," which is now often 
used to describe a severe and unsparing reprimand. 

John, angry with Philip for taking Normandy and for 
being so ready to invade England, made an alliance with 
the Emperor of Germany and the Count of Flanders, and 
attacked France. But the English and their allies were 
defeated in the battle of Bouvines (boo-veen'), in 12 14. 

During John's absence, changes had been going on in 
England. First, the new primate, Langton, made some 
alterations in religious matters, besides dividing the Bible 
into chapters and verses as it is now. Then the barons 
found the charter granted by Stephen and Henry, and 
decided that its promises ought to be kept, and that their 
rights ought to be protected by a few more laws. 




(121) 



122 



The result of this was that the barons drew up a new 
code or set of laws, called the Mag'na Char'ta, or Great 
Charter, in which the rights of the king and of all the 
different classes of the people were clearly set forth ; and 
when John came home, after the battle of Bouvines, they 
asked him to sign it. 

The king angrily refused, whereupon all the barons left 
him and threatened to choose another king. Left with 
only seven followers, John concluded he must yield ; so, 
going out to meet the revolted barons on Run'ny-mede 
(a meadow where the Saxons had often assembled), he 
reluctantly signed the Magna Charta, in 12.15. 

This code of laws is considered the foundation of Eng- 
lish liberty, and has been very carefully preserved. It 
decreed, among many other things, that no man should 
be imprisoned unless he were tried and found guilty, and 
that girls of noble rank might marry without the king's 
consent. 

From Runnymede John retired to the Isle of Wight, 
whence he sent a messenger to the pope, with a copy of 
the charter, a long letter of complaint against the barons, 
and a request to be freed from his promise, which he said 
had been wrung from him by force. The pope, knowing 
many of the barons were against him, sent a bull, or 
papal decree, excommunicating the noblemen and saying 
that John need not keep any of the promises he had made 
to his rebellious subjects. 

This bull made the barons so angry that they vowed to 
fight for their rights. Some called a French prince into 
the country, offered him the crown, and hailed him as king 
in London. Others refused to accept him, and in the 




King; John. 



I2 4 

midst of the civil war which ensued, the last remnants of 
John's army deserted him, and his baggage and all his 
treasures were swept away by the rising tide as he was 
crossing the Wash. 

John himself barely escaped sharing the fate of his 
money, and he felt so badly over his loss that he rode on 
to a priory, where he fell ill and died. Some people say 
that he died of grief, others that he ate too many peaches 
and pears and drank too much cider, but a few declare that 
the prior poisoned him by order of the barons. 

Although John was only forty-nine years old, the Eng- 
lish were glad to be rid of him. They did not respect a 
king who, besides being mean and selfish, was always un- 
truthful, and they gladly hailed as monarch his little son 
Henry, who was then only eight or nine years old. 



XLI. THE WEAK RULE OF HENRY III. 



H 



is 



ENRY III., called Henry of Winchester from 
birthplace, was far too young to govern, so the Earl 
of Pembroke became regent of the kingdom. As the 
crown had been lost with the rest of John's treasures, the 
new monarch was crowned with a plain gold circlet. He 
was very gentle and merciful, but unfortunately very weak 
in character, and as untruthful as his father. This latter 
fact was the cause of many troubles. 

Pembroke began his rule by ratifying the Great Char- 
ter. Most of the barons, hearing of this, now joined Henry, 
forsaking the cause of the French prince. But the latter 



125 

had landed with an army, and would not give up all hopes 
of the English crown without striking a blow. So the civil 
war went on until the French troops were defeated at Lin- 
coln, when they gave up the struggle and went home. 

Pembroke, having rid the country of the French, now 
ruled so wisely that he was sorely missed when he died 
three years later. Other noblemen took his place, but 
they were not so able as he, and often made trouble. 

Not long after the king was declared old enough to rule 
alone, he sent all his advisers away. He was so young 
and so far from clever that he made a very poor ruler. 
His foreign favourites were always asking for money, so 
he spent more than he should. Whenever he ran short 
of funds he called the barons together, and the assembly 
of these noblemen, called Par'lia-ment, supplied him with 
new sums in exchange for new privileges. 

The barons finally became so angry at the greediness of 
the foreigners that the Archbishop of Canterbury advised 
Henry to dismiss them if he would not lose the confidence 
of his people and of the pope. Henry obeyed; but not 
long after he married a French wife, who brought many 
of her friends over to England. They soon won the favour 
of the weak king, and, seeing that all the money given to 
the king was spent foolishly, Parliament refused to let him 
have any more. Henry now tried to get it by borrowing, 
by extorting it from the Jews, by selling his plate and 
jewels, and finally by benevolences, as he called the gifts 
of money which he forced his rich subjects to bestow upon 
him. The priests also claimed a large part of the money 
in England, and sent it to the pope as the tax due to him 
as head of the church. 



126 



These heavy taxes grew so unbearable that the barons, 
headed by Simon de Montfort (a clever French nobleman 
who had married the king's sister and had become a good 
Englishman) marched into Parliament, arms in hand, deter- 
mined to end this bad government. When the king saw 
their grim faces he was frightened, and tremblingly asked, 
" Am I your prisoner? " 

" No ; you are our sovereign," answered Simon de Mont- 
fort ; but he went on to explain that they were ready to 
obey him and give him money, only if the kingdom were 
governed properly. New plans were made by the Parlia- 
ment ; but as they brought about greater confusion, it is 
known in history as the Mad Parliament. 



S^S 



XLII. A RACE. 

AS Henry III. governed so badly, twenty-four barons 
/Y were chosen to rule in his name; but as Simon de 
Montfort was by far the most powerful among them, he 
exercised all the authority. Although Henry had prom- 
ised to abide by the decisions of the twenty-four barons, 
he soon failed to do so ; and, supported by some of the 
noblemen who were jealous of Montfort, he collected an 
army and made war against this powerful subject. But in 
the battle of Lew'es (1264) Montfort defeated the royal 
troops and took Henry III. and his son Prince Edward 
prisoners. Then, hoping to win some more support, 
Montfort called a new Parliament, to which he admitted 
two knights from each county, two burghers from each 



127 

city, and two men from each borough, ^or village of ten 
families. The new members of Parliament sat with the 
bishops and nobles, but later on they had an assembly of 
their own, which was called the House of Commons. Still, 
in 1265 the first real Parliament sat in England, and de- 
cided to meet three times a year, whether called by the 
king or not, to discuss the affairs of the realm. 

The king's party, however, were not pleased with this 
new arrangement, so they began to plot against Simon de 
Montfort. One day when Prince Edward was out riding 
with some of the noblemen who kept guard over him, he 
made them ride races with one another until their horses 
were tired out. His own horse was still quite fresh, and 
when a single horseman appeared at the top of the hill 
and signalled to him, he drove his spurs into his steed and 
rode rapidly away, crying, " Farewell, gentlemen; I have 
enjoyed the pleasure of your company long enough." 

The guards, of course, tried to overtake the runaway 
prince; but before their tired steeds had gone far, they 
saw him meet a troop of his friends and ride away with 
them. Many of the barons now went to join Prince Ed- 
ward, who declared war against Montfort, although Mont- 
fort had forced Henry to issue a decree saying that any 
one who made war against him was a traitor. 

The two armies met at Evesham (evz'um) in 1265, and 
the helpless king would have been slain in the fray had he 
not cried aloud : " Hold! I am Henry of Winchester, your 
king ; don't kill me ! " Prince Edward heard this cry of dis- 
tress, and, rushing forward, rescued his father and brought 
him into a place of safety. But Simon de Montfort and 
his son were both slain in this battle. 



128 



Prince Edward now planned new warfare in the East. 
He joined the seventh and last crusade, and, like his great- 
uncle Richard, covered himself with glory by his brave 
deeds in Palestine. He was accompanied thither by his 
wife, Eleanor. She was as brave as he, and once, when he 
had been wounded by an assassin's poisoned dagger, she 
sucked the poison out of the wound at the risk of her life. 

During the prince's absence Henry feebly tried to rule, 
until, finding death near, he finally sent a message to Pal- 
estine, to hasten his son's return. Henry had an inglori- 
ous reign of fifty-seven years, yet during that time there 
were grand changes in England : first, the beginning of 
the House of Commons, then the building of beautiful 
Gothic cathedrals by the Masons' Guild, and lastly the 
discovery of gunpowder and of reading-glasses, telescopes, 
and many other useful instruments, by a learned monk 
named Roger Bacon. 

Because Bacon was so very much more learned than 
the rest of the people of his day, some of them foolishly 
accused him of being a magician, locked him up in prison 
for ten long, weary years, and deprived him of all his books 
and instruments. He is the author of Latin works on 
science, in which he set down all his wonderful discoveries. 



**<c 



XLIII. PERSECUTION OF THE JEWS. 

THE news that Henry III. was ill took some time to 
reach Prince Edward, who thereupon made imme- 
diate arrangements to return home with his beloved wife, 



129 

Eleanor. But when they reached Sic'i-ly they met another 
messenger, who told them that their haste was unneces- 
sary, as Henry had already breathed his last. 

Hearing these tidings, Edward paused to rest awhile in 
Sicily; then, crossing over to France, he often stopped in 
the course of his journey to be entertained by the French 
noblemen. Wherever he went he was feasted and made 
much of, because the people knew he had fought like a 
true knight in Palestine. 

When Edward came to Bur'gun-dy, he gladly accepted 
an invitation to take part in a tournament, or sham fight, 
in which he and a thousand of his knights were to test 
their skill against the Count of Chalons (shah-lawN') and 
an equal number of Bur-gun'di-an knights. But when 
Edward came to the appointed place, he found that instead 
of a sham fight he and his followers would have to do 
battle if they would escape from the hands of the traitor. 
Dashing forward with his well-known courage, Edward 
called to his men to follow him, and, making good use of 
his great strength, he won a brilliant victory. This con- 
flict is known in history as the Little Battle of Chalons. 

Two years after Henry's death, — for travelling was very 
slow in those days, — Edward arrived in England, where 
he was received with loud cries of joy. At his coronation, 
which soon took place, the houses of London were hung 
with tapestry, the streets strewn with flowers, the fountains 
flowed with wine instead of water, oxen and sheep were 
roasted whole, and shows of all kinds and illuminations 
were given in his honour. 

King Edward at once began to restore law and order in 
his kingdom. Hearing that some of the barons had taken 



130 

unlawful possession of the land of their neighbours, he said 
that all those who could not show deeds for their estates 
should give them up. But when Edward asked one earl 
what instrument he could show to prove his claim to the 
land his family had occupied for many years, the noble- 
man proudly drew his sword and said: "This is the in- 
strument by which my ancestors gained their estate, and 
by which I will keep it." This haughty answer showed 
Edward that it would be impossible to turn out the men 
who had held their estates a long time, so he changed the 
law. 

Another thing that Edward did was to punish the people 
who had grown rich by " clipping the coin," or cutting off 
a little of the metal around each piece of gold or silver 
money. The money was also changed, and Edward said 
that pennies should no longer be cut into halves and quar- 
ters for halfpence and farthings, but that all coins, however 
small, should be round. 

The Jews were very numerous in England in the begin- 
ning of Edward's reign. They did nearly all the trading 
and money-lending, and were very uncharitably hated by 
the Christians, who accused them of clipping the coin. 
Edward, who had been a crusader, fancied it was his duty 
to persecute all Jews ; so, after illtreating them for thir- 
teen years, he suddenly bade them leave England, allow- 
ing them to take only their gold and jewels with them. 

Sixteen thousand Jews were thus unjustly driven out 
of the kingdom. In their stead the Lombards began to 
trade and lend money, and one of the important streets in 
London is still known by their name, because so many of 
them used to dwell there. 



i3i 



XLIV. THE CONQUEST OF WALES. 

EDWARD'S great ambition was to rule over the whole 
island, so he soon began to plan how he could get 
possession of Wales and of Scotland. Now, as you know, 
Wales is a mountainous country in the western part of 
Great Britain. Hither the ancient Britons had fled when 
driven out of the southeast by the Saxons, and here they 
still spoke the old Briton language, sang about Briton 
heroes, such as Arthur, and proudly kept their old liberty. 

Llew-el'lyn, one of the Welsh princes, had taken part in 
the barons' rebellion under Simon de Montfort, and had 
received the latter's permission to marry his daughter as 
soon as her education was finished. The young lady was 
then at school in France, but as soon as she was old enough 
to marry, she prepared to join her gallant lover. 

Edward, knowing that she was coming over from France, 
had her captured and brought to his court, where he said 
that he would detain her until Llewellyn came and did 
homage to him as his lord. Llewellyn proudly refused, 
and a war ensued ; but, for the sake of his betrothed, 
Llewellyn finally complied with Edward's conditions. 

The Welsh were too proud, however, not to resent being 
under the English, and before very long they rebelled, 
under the leadership of Llewellyn and his brother David. 
The Welsh had been greatly encouraged by the heroic songs 
of their bards, and by an old prophecy, said to have been 
made by Merlin, in which it was foretold that a Welsh 
prince would be crowned king in London when all the 
money was round. 

STO. OF ENG.— Q 



132 



The Welsh seized the first good opportunity to make a 
raid into England, captured the Castle of Haw'ar-den, and 
killed all the English in it. Edward collected an army and 
marched into Wales to avenge this attack, but he lost many 
men in crossing Men'ai Strait, and could not get at the 
Welsh, who had taken refuge upon Mount Snow'don, 
whence they came down for sudden raids. 

It was owing to a traitor that Llewellyn's brave little 
troop was finally conquered. Llewellyn's head was cut 
off and sent to London, where, to make fun of the Welsh 
prophecy, it was set up on the Tower and crowned with 
ivy or willow, or, some say, with a silver circle to make it 
look like a coin. 

Six months later David also was taken prisoner. He 
underwent terrible torture before he was hanged. Then, 
as if this brutal treatment were not enough, his insides 
were taken out, and his body cut into four pieces, which 
were sent to the four most important cities to be exposed 
there. It was thus that by King Edward's order David 
was hanged, drawn, and quartered. 

The Welsh were too exhausted to resist any longer, so 
the principal lords promised to be faithful to Edward, 
if he would give them as governor a prince born in their 
own land. Edward readily promised this; and when he 
added that the prince whom he intended to set over them 
did not know a word of French or English, they set up a 
shout of joy and clamoured to see him. Edward then 
stepped into the next room ; but he soon came back, care- 
fully carrying his infant son Edward, who had been born 
in the Castle of Car-narVon a few days before, and who 
was thus a native Welshman. 




The First Prince of Wales. 



(133) 



134 

Of course the babe could not speak a word of French or 
English, but neither could he speak any Welsh. He was 
gladly welcomed, however, as " Prince of Wales." His 
elder brother soon died, so he became heir to the English 
crown, and ever since then the eldest son of an English 
monarch has borne the title of " Prince of Wales." 

Some writers say that Edward ordered the massacre of 
all the Welsh bards, because he feared their exciting the 
people to new rebellion ; but others deny this, and certainly 
some of these musicians must have escaped, for many of 
their songs have come down to us. The Welsh became 
loyal subjects, and it was a hundred years or more before 
they again rose up to fight against the English. 



>>§><< 



XLV. A QUARREL WITH FRANCE. 

THE Welsh war was scarcely ended when trouble began 
with France. This war arose from a very slight 
cause. It seems that a Norman bark and an English ship 
once put in at the same port to renew their supply of fresh 
water. Two sailors began to quarrel while filling their 
casks, and soon came to blows. The crews of both vessels, 
instead of stopping the fight, joined in it, and a Norman 
was killed. A few days later the angry Normans took 
revenge by capturing and hanging an English merchant, 
and they added insult to injury by placing a dog at his 
feet. The news of this affront enraged the English sea- 
men, and for some time after that, whenever Normans and 
Englishmen met, there were quarrels and fights. 



135 

Although both the French and the English king tried 
to avoid taking part in this contest, it soon grew so bitter 
that the French king summoned Edward to come to 
France, as Duke of Guienne, to answer for the damages 
done by his subjects. Edward, either unable or unwilling 
to go himself, sent his brother, who foolishly allowed the 
French monarch to occupy Guienne for forty days, upon 
his promise to give it back at the end of that time. 

But when the forty days were ended, the French king 
refused to give up the province, and Edward, eager to 
regain it, began to raise an army. As he had no money 
to pay troops, he tried to levy a force in the same way as 
William the Conqueror. Calling the noblemen to help him, 
he bade them bring their vassals, and told the Earl of 
Her'e-ford to lead the army into Guienne. 

The Earl of Hereford, however, flatly refused to obey ; 
and when Edward angrily cried, " By heaven, Sir Earl, 
you shall either go or be hanged!" he retorted hotly, 
" By heaven, Sir King, I will neither go nor yet will I be 
hanged!" And having said these words, he coolly left 
the court and went home. 

When Edward saw that he could not raise troops in this 
way, he began to tax the clergy to get money to hire 
men; and when they complained, he said he would not 
protect them unless they did as he wished, but would allow 
any one to take their property. In dismay the priests 
appealed to the pope, while the barons, banding together, 
sent word to Edward that he should have neither funds 
nor help unless he solemnly swore to ratify the Great 
Charter, and never again to attempt to raise money except 
through Parliament. Edward was forced to yield to these 



136 



demands; and in 1295 was h.e\d the first English Parlia- 
ment that was composed of a House of Lords and a 
House of Commons. Ever since then Parliament has ex- 
ercised the right of taxing the people, whom it represents 
by bishops, lords, and elected members. 

Edward himself now conducted his army into France, 
but before much fighting could be done the pope interfered. 
By his advice the two kings became friends, and then Ed- 
ward went back to England. 

Shortly before this good Queen Eleanor died. She had 
been Edward's wife for more than twenty years, and had 
borne him fifteen children. To show his affection for her, 
the king ordered that a cross should be erected wherever 
her body rested on its way from Lincoln to Westminster 
Abbey, where she lies buried. The best known of these 
interesting monuments is " Charing Cross" in London. 




Charing Cross, London. 



137 



XLVI. THE CORONATION STONE. 

HIS wife being dead, Edward now married the sister of 
the French king, and promised that Edward Carnar- 
von, the Prince of Wales, should marry a daughter of the 
same monarch. In all these years Edward had never lost 
sight of his principal ambition, to annex Scotland, and 
when the Scotch king died, a few years before, he had 
tried to make a match between his son and the baby 
queen of that realm. This little creature was called the 
Maid of Norway, because she had gone to live in that 
country; but on her way back to Scotland to be crowned, 
she was taken ill, and died on the Orkney Islands. 

Thirteen different members of the royal family claimed 
the vacant throne of the Maid of Norway. Bruce and 
Ba'li-ol were the only ones who had any real right to suc- 
ceed her, but as the Scotch could not decide which of the 
two should reign, they asked Edward to act as umpire and 
settle the matter. 

After some consideration, Edward decided in favour of 
Baliol, but let him have the crown only on condition that 
Baliol should do homage to him for Scotland. The new 
Scotch king soon regretted having yielded to this demand, 
for several times, for mere trifles, Edward made him come 
to London to give an account of himself. 

Annoyed by this interference, Baliol soon began to plot, 
and, helped by the Scots, who did not like to see their 
sovereign the vassal of an English king, he invaded Eng- 
land four years after he had been crowned at Scone. 
Edward made use of this attack as an excuse to make war 




133 

against Scotland, and after defeating Baliol at Dun-bar', 
brought him a prisoner to London. 

All Scotland was soon re- 
duced to obedience and annexed 
to England. Its great seal was 
broken, and its famous corona- 
tion stone was carried away to 
Westminster Abbey and placed 
in the seat of a throne. The loss 
of this stone was a great sorrow 
to the Scots. They said it was 
the stone that Jacob had used 
for a pillow when he dreamed 
that he saw the angels of God 
The Coronation Chair, West- ascending and descending a won- 
derful ladder which reached from 
heaven to earth. Besides that, there was an ancient proph- 
ecy which said : 

" Should fate not fail, where'er this stone be found, 
The Scot shall monarch of that realm be crowned." 

The Scots, who had always been independent, were not 
satisfied to send members to the new English Parliament ; 
so one of their patriot princes, the heroic William Wallace, 
called them to help him free their country. 

After defeating the English forces at Stirling Bridge, 
and ravaging the northern provinces of England, Wallace 
was named Guardian of Scotland. But, one year after his 
first victory, he was defeated by Edward at the battle of 
Farkirk, and Scotland was again forced to yield. During 
the next few years Wallace dwelt in the mountains and 



139 



waged an incessant petty war against the English ; but he 
was finally betrayed into their hands. 

Then he was taken to London, tried, and condemned 
to death for treason. He was drawn and quartered in the 
most barbarous way, and his head was set up on London 




l),n,ul M„r!,s», 1 



Trial of Sir William Wallace. 



Bridge. Yet, although he was dead, the Scots did not for- 
get him ; and when they heard how cruelly he had been 
treated, they rallied once more to fight the English. 

Robert Bruce, a grandson of the Bruce who had dis- 
puted the throne with Baliol, was then a hostage at 
Edward's court. One day he received a purse of gold and 
a pair of spurs — a message which he readily understood; 
and, biding his time, he escaped on a fast horse whose shoes 
had been reversed so that he should not be tracked. 



140 

When Bruce arrived in Scotland, he met his ally ConV- 
yn, the son-in-law of Baliol, in a church. There they quar- 
relled, and Bruce, drawing his dagger, struck Comyn down, 
and then rushed out and told his followers what he had 
done. They cried that Comyn was a traitor, and went into 
the building, where they stabbed him again and again to 
make sure he should not escape. Bruce was crowned in 
1306, and the Scots promptly rallied around him. But in 
spite of all his valour, and the devotion of his subjects, 
the English defeated him and forced him to flee to Ireland. 

After this victory Edward showed himself very cruel 
to the Scots, whom he treated as rebels ; and when they 
persisted in rebellion, under Bruce's untiring leadership, 
he was very angry. Although already so ill that he had 
to be carried in a horse-litter, he would not rest until he 
had seen his orders carried out. But when he reached 
Car-lisle', feeling that his end was near, he called his son 
to his bedside, bade him never rest until all Scotland was 
conquered, and asked that his body be carried ahead of 
the army which he had hoped to lead himself. Thus died 
Edward I., who, although brave and clever, was a very cruel 
king. He reigned thirty- five years, and was succeeded by 
his son Edward, the first Prince of Wales (1307). 

XLVII. THE INSOLENT FAVOURITE. 

EDWARD II. of Carnarvon brought many misfortunes 
upon himself and upon all his people by his weak 
character. He began his reign by breaking the promises 



Hi 

he had made to his father. Instead of going on to Scot- 
land, he journeyed back to London and buried the body 
of Edward I. in Westminster Abbey. 

Even as a very young man, Edward had allowed himself 
to be governed by one of his attendants named Piers 
Gav'es-ton. This young man was handsome and clever, 
but not at all good or truthful. To get presents, he 
flattered the prince incessantly, and used to amuse him by 
making fun of all the greatest men in the kingdom. 

When Edward I. perceived what a bad influence Gaves- 
ton had over his son, he sent this idle favourite out of the 
country, and, before dying, begged the prince never to 
recall him. As Edward II. had already broken two 
promises, he soon failed to keep the third, and Gaveston 
was not only invited back to court, but was loaded with 
honours and made principal adviser of the king. 

Now if Gaveston had tried to influence the king for 
good, and had been modest and polite to the nobles, he 
might have remained in this position for a long time ; but 
he was insolent, and greedy for money and honours, and 
he induced the king to treat the barons so badly that 
they al began to hate him with all their might. 

Their dismay was great, therefore, when the king named 
his favourite Regent of England while he went over to 
France to marry Isabella, a daughter of the French mon- 
arch. Yet even the pretty young bride could not com- 
fort Edward for his favourite's absence, so he hastened 
back to England. At the coronation feast, which followed 
his return, he bestowed new honours upon Gaveston, and 
this so exasperated both queen and barons that they 
threatened to rebel unless the king sent his friend away. 



42 



To make sure that Gaveston should never come back, 
the nobles made Edward and his favourite swear they 
would never see each other again ; but the pope having 




Mann:, Stone, Artist. 



Edward II. and Piers Gaveston. 



consented to absolve them both from this oath, Edward 
soon recalled Gaveston, who re-entered England only to 
show himself more worthless than ever. 

As the king kept supplying his extravagant favourite 
with money, his funds soon gave out. He therefore called 
a Parliament at York ; but the members declared they 
would not give him any more money so long as Gaveston 
was in England. The king in anger dissolved (dismissed) 
the Parliament, and called another at Westminster. As 
he had in the meantime sent his favourite abroad, this 
Parliament gave him funds, after making him promise to 
call a Parliament at least once a year. 

The barons, who had come to Westminster determined 
to wrest this and sundry other promises from their monarch, 



143 

looked so fierce that he did not dare to refuse. He there- 
fore sent orders to Gaveston not to come back, and set 
out for Scotland, where his presence was needed. But 
even before he reached the border, his longing for Gaves- 
ton made him again break his word and recall his favourite 
for the third time. 

This breach of faith roused the barons to action. Seeing 
that their king would be the tool of this bad man as long 
as the latter lived, they captured Gaveston, who was soon 
after executed at Warwick (wor'ik) Castle, by order of the 
king's cousin, the Earl of Lanc'-as-ter. Edward was so 
furious with the barons for putting his favourite to death 
that he wanted to make war against them ; but trouble in 
Scotland soon forced him not only to make peace with 
the nobles, but to implore them to help him. 



&K< 



XLVIII. BRUCE AND THE SPIDER. 

YOU remember, do you not, how Edward I. defeated 
Robert Bruce ? Although this brave man had been 
driven out of Scotland, he was not ready to give up. 
Several times he tried to win back his kingdom, and 
several times he failed. An interesting story is told of 
how he gained the courage to persevere so patiently. 

He was lying in a poor thatch-roofed cottage one day, 
wondering whether he had not better cease all efforts. 
Suddenly his eye rested upon a spider which was weaving 
its web. It climbed away up to the roof, but before it 
could fasten its thread there, it lost its hold and fell to the 



H4 



ground. A moment later, he saw the spider climb up 
and try again. Nine times the insect fell; but at the 
tenth attempt the thread was fastened and the web woven. 

Bruce, who had watched the nine failures, gladly saw 
the patient spider succeed, and declared that the little 
creature had taught him a good lesson, and that he too 
would persist, in spite of repeated disappointments, until 
he should triumph at last. So, instead of giving up, Bruce 
tried again, and soon found that his luck had turned. 

He and his faithful followers took one castle after an- 
other, and every day their little force increased, until they 
could boast of an army. Some of the strongholds garri- 
soned by the English were taken by force, and others by 
strategy. 

For instance, when the Scotch were very anxious to 
secure Lin-lith/gow, they hid some of their men under 
a load of hay, and bade a farmer drive the cart for them. 
The castle gates were readily opened to admit the load 
of hay with its farmer driver. But the peasant pretended 
to be awkward, and turned the cart in such a way that 
the gates could not be closed. At that moment the hidden 
men sprang out, sword in hand; and as they were soon 
joined by their companions, who were hiding near there, 
they boldly attacked the garrison and took the castle. 

The news of Bruce's earlier successes did not greatly 
trouble Edward; but when he heard that Stirling, the last 
great English fortress, would surrender if not succoured 
within a certain number of days, he set out for Scotland. 
He was at the head of an army of one hundred thousand 
men, while Bruce had only thirty thousand with whom to 
oppose him. 



145 

Nevertheless, knowing that a battle would be best, Bruce 
got ready to meet Edward. First he chose a good battle- 
field, and then he had his men dig pits which they covered 
with brush and grass, hoping that the English cavalry 
would tumble into them. Lastly, Bruce hid the camp 
followers and baggage wagons behind a hill, that they 
might not cause disorder in the ranks. 

When all was ready, the Scots knelt in prayer, and 
the English army, coming up, fancied they were begging 
for mercy. An Englishman, impatient to strike the first 
blow, rushed forward on his battle steed before the signal 
was given, and attacked the Bruce. Although he had not 
yet mounted his war horse, and was riding a mere pony, 
Bruce boldly advanced, and, avoiding the Englishman's 
blow, cleft his skull in two with his battle-ax. The Scotch, 
who had trembled for the life of their king, now applauded 
him wildly, and, rushing forward, they fought with such 
courage that the English soon began to yield. 

This advantage was no sooner gained than the Scotch- 
men managed to force the English cavalry towards the pits, 
where the fallen horses and riders increased the confusion. 
Just at this moment, either because they received the 
agreed-on signal or because they did not wish to miss 
their share of the plunder, the camp followers, who had 
supplied themselves with old armour and banners, came 
running over the hill. 

When the Englishmen became aware of the approach of 
what they took for a fresh army, they broke ranks and 
fled. The Scotchmen pursued them, and we are told that 
they followed the fugitives ninety miles before stopping. 

This victory of Ban'nock-burn (13 14) terrified the Eng- 



146 



lish soldiers so sorely that many years elapsed befoi-e they 
again dared face their brave neighbours in pitched battle. 
Edward barely escaped with his life, and the fortress whi\r.h 
he had intended to rescue fell into the hands of the 
Scotch. 

Robert Bruce was now sole master of Scotland. He 
tried to conquer Ireland also, but soon gave up the attempt, 
and, returning to Scotland, took Berwick (ber'ik). You 
can imagine how happy he was to become master of this 
city, when you hear that members of his family had been 
prisoners there many years, as well as some Scotch nobles 
who had helped him in the days of Edward I. 

Robert Bruce now began to think of governing his 
kingdom wisely ; but he was not to enjoy his triumph long, 
for he was already suffering from a very painful disease, 
the result of the many hardships he had endured. When 
he saw that' his end was near, Robert I., King of Scotland, 
called his friends around him and gave them his last in- 
structions for ruling the land he loved so well. Then, 
having attended to his public affairs, he said that he was 
sorry to die before he had visited the tomb of our Lord 
at Jerusalem, according to a vow he had once made. 

As he could not go himself, he begged Douglas, his 
best friend, to have his heart cut out of his dead body, 
and, after it had been embalmed and put in a golden casket, 
to carry it to the Holy Land. We are told that these 
directions were carefully carried out when he had breathed 
his last, and that Douglas set out for Palestine. 

But on the way thither, he and his followers stopped in 
Spain to help the Christians there in one of their battles 
against the Saracens. In the midst of the fray, Douglas 



147 

flung the casket forward, crying 
as was ever thy wont, and I wil 
relates that when the 
battle was over the 
dead body of Doug- 
las was found beside 
the casket. 

In spite of Bruce's 
last wish, his heart 
was then brought 
back to Scotland, 
where it was buried 
in Mel'rose Abbey, 
ruin, which strangers love to visit. 



" Go ahead, thou Bruce, 
follow thee." Tradition 

ifiWfti 






. - 

Melrose Abbey. 
This building is now a picturesque 



3>®4< 



XLIX. DEATH OF EDWARD II. 

AFTER Bruce's victory at Bannockburn, Edward lav- 
f~\ ished all his favours upon two noblemen, the De- 
spen'sers, father and son. The barons had no objection 
to the old man, but they soon became displeased with the 
younger, who was as insolent and worthless as Gaveston. 

So many lands and so much power were granted to the 
Despensers by the weak Edward, that the barons, led by 
Lancaster, again revolted. But, helped by the Despensers, 
Edward defied them, until, suddenly changing his mind, 
he yielded to them and banished his new favourites. 

The Despensers were no sooner gone, however, than 
Edward planned to break his promises ; and before long 

STO. OF EXG. — IO 



148 

the two exiled noblemen were back at court, the most 
determined of the barons imprisoned, and Lancaster and 
twenty-eight other knights beheaded. 

One of the captives, a baron named Mor'ti-mer, succeeded 
in escaping from the Tower in a daring way. After 
drugging his guards, he got out of his dungeon, and, find- 
ing his way into the kitchen, he climbed up its wide 
chimney. Once on the roof, he lowered himself by means 
of a rope ladder, and, gaining the river, embarked in a boat 
that was awaiting him. Protected by the darkness, Morti- 
mer managed to board a vessel, which took him over to 
France. There he lived for some time, congratulating 
himself upon his escape from prison and death ; for he had 
been sentenced a short time before his flight. 

The King of France had repeatedly summoned Edward 
to come over and do homage to him for his French pos- 
sessions ; but Edward said he could not leave England, on 
account of his troubles with the barons. Instead he sent 
his wife Isabella and his eldest son to the French court, to 
present his excuses and make a treaty with the king. 

Isabella, who was a Frenchwoman by birth, signed a 
treaty which gave all the advantage to the French. Be- 
sides that, she made the escaped prisoner Mortimer her 
favourite. In obedience to his suggestion, she even wrote 
to the king that she would not come back unless he sent 
the Despensers away. But as the king retained his favour- 
ites, she and Mortimer finally joined the angry barons in 
England, and entered London at the head of an army. 

The Londoners warmly welcomed Isabella, but the king 
fled with his favourites. All the rebels he had sent to 
the Tower were released, and, joining the queen's army, 



149 

besieged the city of Bristol. Here the elder Despenser 
had taken refuge, and when they took him, although he 
was a man of ninety years, they hanged him most cruelly 
and tore his dead body to pieces. 

The younger Despenser fell into their hands soon after, 
and the barons avenged themselves for all the harm he had 
done them by crowning him with nettles and hanging him 
on a gallows fifty feet high. 

Edward, deprived of his dearest friends, now wandered 
about from place to place, and finally surrendered to his 
enemies. They took him to Ken'il-worth, where they kept 
him a prisoner, while the queen called Parliament and 
proposed that he should give up his crown to his son. 
The barons welcomed this proposal, and forced poor King 
Edward to sign his abdication. The next day, Edward, 
the second Prince of Wales, began his reign as Edward III. 

Edward of Carnarvon, who had reigned nineteen and a 
half years, was kept a prisoner and treated very unkindly 
by the barons, although his jailers pitied him. Taken 
from castle to castle, and deprived of all comforts, the 
king was once forced, we are told, to make his toilet out 
in the open fields. When the men brought him dirty water 
from a neighbouring ditch to shave with, the tears poured 
down his cheeks. 

" See," he cried, " nature supplies the clean warm water 
which you would fain deny your captive king!" 

After many wanderings, Edward was cruelly murdered 
in Berke'ley Castle, by Mortimer's and Isabella's orders. 



i5o 



L. THE MURDERERS PUNISHED. 

EDWARD III. ranks as one of England's greatest 
kings; but as he was only fourteen years of age at 
the time of his coronation, the government was first car- 
ried on by a council of regency, composed of twelve lords. 
These noblemen, however, were ruled in their turn by 
Queen Isabella and her favourite Mortimer. 

The wicked queen had not only taken possession of all 
the property of the Despensers, but after she had got rid 
of her weak husband, she tried to keep the authority in 
her own hands by surrounding her son with men who were 
her tools. The young king could not resist, and quietly 
bided his time. 

Edward was a born soldier, and his greatest desire seems 
to have been to make conquests. Even in the beginning 
of his reign he joined his army and fought against the 
Scots, who were then still governed by Robert Bruce. 

The English army was composed of heavily armed 
knights, while the Scots, led by Douglas, wore little 
armour, and rode small horses, which could scramble over 
the roughest ground. Instead of having immense trains 
of baggage, such as followed the English army, each 
Scotchman carried a bag of oatmeal and a flat iron plate on 
which he baked his cakes at the camp fire. Whenever the 
Scotch wanted meat, they caught and killed an ox. As 
soon as it was flayed, the skin was hung over the fire, 
filled with water, and thus served as a caldron wherein to 
boil the meat. 

These simple arrangements gave Douglas and his men 



i5i 

a great advantage over the English, who could never over- 
take them. Sudden raids here and there, and very prompt 
retreats, formed the Scotch method of warfare ; but they 
never engaged in a pitched battle with Edward's troops. 

One night, when the English were fast asleep in their 
tents, Douglas broke into their camp with two hundred 
men. Edward would have fallen a victim to their blows, 
had he not been defended by his chaplain and chamberlain, 
who, by sacrificing their lives, enabled him to escape. 

After carrying on this skirmish warfare for some time, 
the Scots discovered that the new king, although a boy, was 
a more formidable foe than his father, and agreed to make 
peace with him. In 1328, therefore, Edward III. and 
Robert Bruce signed the treaty of North-amp'ton, in 
which it was agreed that Scotland was to be independent. 

That same year, young as he was, Edward married a 
good and beautiful princess, Philippa of Hainault (ha-no'). 
He also arranged a marriage between his own sister Jane 
and the son of Robert Bruce, who was then only a baby. 

As soon as Edward was eighteen, he became his own 
master and began to reign alone. The very first use he 
made of his power was to punish the murderers of his 
father. Now, as you know, Isabella and Mortimer were 
the real authors of the crime. They were evidently afraid 
they might be punished, for they had withdrawn to the 
Castle of Not'ting-ham, which was closely guarded by their 
own men. Every evening the gates were securely closed 
and locked, the keys being brought to the queen, who 
kept them under her own pillow, to prevent treachery. 

In spite of all this caution, Edward's followers got into 
the castle by a subterranean passage, of whose existence 



152 

the queen was not aware. Before he could suspect his 
danger, Mortimer was seized and dragged away by the 
soldiers, while the queen, falling at the young king's feet, 
implored him to spare her "gentle Mortimer." 

As he could not bring his own mother to trial, Edward 
had her taken to Castle Rising, where she spent the rest 
of her life a prisoner. Once a year he came to see her, 
but her imprisonment lasted nearly twenty-eight years. 

Her accomplice Mortimer was taken to Westminster, 
where he was tried and sentenced to be hanged at Tyburn, 
the place where all common criminals were put to death. 



>^< 



LI. THE BATTLE OF CRECY. 

ONE year after the treaty of Northampton, the brave 
King of Scotland died, leaving the crown to his five- 
year-old son David. But as the new monarch was a mere 
child, Baliol, the son of the former king of that name, drove 
him away and took possession of the crown. To make 
Edward his friend, Baliol offered to do homage to him 
for his kingdom, but this so enraged the independent Scots 
that they turned Baliol out and recalled David. 

The result was that war began once more, with Edward 
and Baliol on one side, and David and his French allies on 
the other. No very great battles were fought, so Edward 
left his army to continue the war in Scotland, and prepared 
to go and fight in France. 

Edward had been longing to make his kingdom larger, 
and he now thought he had a good chance, as he had three 



153 

separate reasons for fighting the French. In the first place, 
he said they kept helping his Scotch enemy David Bruce ; 
secondly, French noblemen often made raids into his prov- 
ince of Guienne ; and thirdly, he claimed that, as the last 
French kings died leaving no sons, the crown really be- 
longed to him. This last claim was hardly just, for 
Edward was the son of a sister of the last three kings of 
France ; so, if the French crown could have passed on to 
a woman, it would have belonged, not to his mother, but 
to one of the daughters of the late kings. Nevertheless, 
it was on this threefold pretext that Edward III. began the 
Hundred Years' War, so called because about a century 
passed ere the quarrel was ended. 

Calling his Parliament, Edward asked them for money, 
which they supplied him in exchange for new privileges. 
It was Edward's intention to sail for Guienne and begin 
the conflict with the French there ; but, owing to con- 
trary winds, he had to change his plans and land in the 
northern part of France. Hedged in between the Somme 
River and the sea, Edward saw that his position was un- 
favourable. Besides, many of his men became sick and 
died from eating too much fruit, so he was afraid the 
French army might get the better of him. 

By offering a reward of one hundred pounds to any one 
who would show him a ford across the Somme, Edward 
cleverly secured a better position near the village of Crecy 
(era-see'). Here he had pits dug, and provided his bow- 
men with sharp stakes to drive into the ground before 
them so as to form a fence which would prevent the French 
from riding them down. Then he commanded his men 
to eat and rest until thev were needed. 



154 



It seems that one part of the army was then placed 
under the command of the Prince of Wales, a lad of six- 
teen. He was distinguished from the other knights by his 
coal-black armour, which won for him the surname of the 
Black Prince. Like most youths of his age and time, the 
Black Prince had been trained in all knightly exercises, 
but this was his first great battle, and he was very anxious 
to do some brave deed whereby he might win his knightly 
spurs. 

The French army was about eighty thousand strong, but 
it was under the command of different French noblemen, 
who were all eager to press on ahead and strike the first 
blow. This lack of discipline in the French army, a sud- 
den shower which wet their bowstrings, and the fact that 
they began fighting when tired by a long march, proved 
fatal to their hopes of victory. 

The archers were in front, but, finding their bows use- 
less, they turned to beat a retreat. As they were hired 
troops, the French knights fancied they were cowards or 
traitors, and, falling upon them with drawn swords, began 
to massacre them. The English took advantage of this 
confusion, and the Black Prince led a gallant charge into 
the midst of the French army. 

Edward III., who was watching the battle from the top 
of a windmill on a neighbouring hill, was proud of his son's 
bravery, and when anxious courtiers pressed forward and 
begged him to send help to the righting prince, he asked: 
" Is my son dead, wounded, or felled to the ground? " 

" Not so, thank God ! " answered the messengers ; " but 
he is sore beset." 

" He shall have no aid from me," exclaimed the king, 



155 

proudly. " Let him bear himself like a man ; in this battle 
he must win his spurs." 

These words, reported to the prince, nerved his arm to 
greater prowess, and when evening came he saw the whole 
French army routed. The battlefield was strewn with 
dead ; for, owing to the steady fire of the English archers 
and the power of their great bows and " cloth-yard " shafts, 
armour proved but little protection. This battle, fought 
in 1346, showed the power of the men in the ranks as op- 
posed to the mailed knights and their retainers, and with 
it began the fall of feudalism. It is interesting to read 
that cannon were used for the first time at Crecy, though 
they were not very effective. They merely threw " small 
iron balls" " to frighten the horses." 

Thirty thousand Frenchmen were lying on the plain of 
Crecy, and on visiting the battlefield the next day, the 
Black Prince found there the body of the aged King of 
Bo-he'mi-a. This monarch was so brave that, although 
blind and almost helpless, he asked to be led into the thick- 
est of the fray, so that he might strike a few blows. 

Two of his knights fastened his horse to their own, and, 
dashing forward, enabled him to gratify his last wish. 
Their bodies lay close together, and by them stood the three 
horses, still tied together, but unharmed. When the young 
Prince of Wales saw the dead king's banner lying near him, 
he picked it up, and said he would adopt as his own crest 
the emblem of the three feathers it bore. He also appro- 
priated the King of Bohemia's motto, " Ich dien " (I 
serve) ; and ever since then this motto and crest have be- 
longed to the Prince of Wales. 



i 5 6 



LII. THE SIEGE OF CALAIS. 

HAVING cut the French army to pieces at Crecy, Ed- 
ward, who was anxious to secure a good seaport in 
France, set out to besiege Calais (cah-la/), a strongly for- 
tified city within sight of the Dover cliffs. 

The town was bravely defended by a gallant Frenchman 
named Jean de Vienne, and in spite of the English ships 
blocking the port, and the English army surrounding it on 
all sides, the French held out stanchly. As no provisions 
were allowed to enter, the governor soon saw that the peo- 
ple would suffer from famine, so he sent out all the old 
men, women, and children. These were allowed to pass 
through the English ranks to join their friends elsewhere. 
But although the number of inhabitants was thus greatly 
diminished, and the food carefully portioned out, the fam- 
ine became so great that the people of Calais ate cats, 
dogs, and rats, and even boiled old boots to make soup. 

Month after month passed by, and although their suffer- 
ings grew r greater every day, they still held out bravely, 
hoping the French king would send them help or drive 
away the English army. Once more the city gates opened, 
and a second troop of thin and haggard people came out ; 
but Edward was now so angry at the obstinate resistance 
of Calais that he would not let them pass, and they died 
of hunger between the city walls and the English camp. 

Finally the city was forced to surrender, but Edward 
declared that he would kill all the inhabitants unless six of 
the most prominent citizens came to him, barefooted and 
in their shirts, each with a rope around his neck, and bring- 



157 

ing the keys of the city gates. When this message was 
delivered by the governor, the people of Calais groaned 
aloud, for they felt that their end was near. But St. 
Pierre, one of the wealthiest men in town, stepped for- 
ward, offering to be the first of the six required victims. 

Two of his relatives immediately imitated him, and they 
were soon followed by three other noble-hearted volunteers. 
The six victims, in the prescribed attire, then went before 
Edward, escorted to the gates by their weeping kinsmen. 
When the Englishmen saw the Calais burghers appear, 
they were touched to the heart, all except Edward, who, 
in spite of the entreaties of the Black Prince and all his 
courtiers, ordered that they should be hanged at once. 

The guards were about to obey, when good Queen Phi- 
lippa knelt before her husband, imploring him to spare the 
lives of those six brave men. She spoke so movingly that 
all who heard her wept ; then she gently reminded Ed- 
ward that she had come over the sea to bring him the joy- 
ful news of the victory of Nev'ille's Cross, won over the 
Scots, whose king, David Bruce, was now her prisoner. 

Her entreaties softened Edward's heart, and he gave her 
the six Calais burghers, to deal with as she wished. Phi- 
lippa had them led to her own tent, where they were richly 
clothed, royally feasted, and, after receiving many gifts, 
were sent back unharmed to their rejoicing relatives. 

As Calais now belonged to the English, Edward ordered 
all the Frenchmen to leave it and go and live elsewhere. 
He next peopled the city with his own subjects, and had 
it guarded by an English garrison. Hither English boats 
brought tin, wool, and other merchandise, to sell to the 
French merchants who came there to buy. 




(i5§) 



159 

Although Edward had hitherto been so successful, he 
was now obliged to stop making war, and to conclude a 
seven years' truce with France. He was forced to sus- 
pend his conquests because a terrible pestilence, called the 
black death, had made its way into Europe from Asia, and 
was now carrying off thousands of people. 

The black death raged for several years, and killed about 
one third of the population. It was so deadly because 
people in those days did not know that three things are 
necessary for good health : pure air, pure water, and great 
cleanliness, not only of the body, but also of all its sur- 
roundings — clothing, houses, and streets. 



)^c 



LIII. THE AGE OF CHIVALRY. 

SHORTLY after the taking of Calais, Edward, who 
is regarded as one of the most chivalrous of the 
English kings, founded a new order of knights, which was 
called the Order of the Garter. It is said that at one of 
the court balls the Countess of Salisbury dropped her gar- 
ter. The king saw her confusion, and, wishing to prevent 
any of his courtiers from being so rude as to laugh at the 
accident, he picked up the garter, put it on his own leg, 
and said aloud in French, " Honi soit qui mal y pense," 
words which mean, " Shamed be he who evil thinks." 

He then declared that he was going to choose twenty- 
five of the most noble knights to belong to the new Order 
of the Garter, with him and the Black Prince. Each of 
the knights he chose wore a blue garter on his left leg, a 



6o 



blue sash across his breast, a medal with the effigy of St. 
George trampling the dragon, and a silver star with eight 
points. 

The twenty-five Knights of the Garter have always been 
very proud of this honourable decoration, and in knightly 
days, when it was the custom to take solemn oaths, these 
men used to take pride in swearing by their " stars and 
garters." Hence, also, "to receive the blue ribbon " meant 
to have the greatest honour conferred upon one. 

Some people, however, claim that the Order of the Gar- 
ter was instituted by Richard the Lion-hearted. He, it is 
said, gave a leather garter to the knights who had distin- 
guished themselves in righting against the Saracens. 

In the feudal ages, knights were men of noble birth, 
who, after undergoing a certain amount of training, were 
received into the order of knighthood or chivalry. 

Until seven years old, boys staid under their mothers' 
care ; then they were sent to the castle of some great 
nobleman, where they served as pages till they were four- 
teen. During pagehood the young noblemen learned to 
be courteous and gentle, to wait upon ladies, tell stories, 
sing songs, and play upon the lute, and they were daily 
trained to be strong, agile, frank, brave, polite, and truthful. 

From the age of fourteen till they were about twenty 
they were called squires ; they practised the art of fighting, 
and attended knights at war, to help them don their heavy 
armour or to raise them when they were overthrown. 
This term of apprenticeship ended, the candidate for 
knighthood spent twenty-four hours in fasting and prayer, 
and during the night knelt alone in the church, before the 
altar, upon which his armour was laid to be consecrated. 



This time of meditation and prayer was followed on the 
next day by a solemn religious ceremony, in which the 
young knight vowed to protect the weak, the fatherless, 
and the oppressed, to honour all women, and to right the 
wrong wherever it was possible. Then a knight drew his 
sword and struck the kneeling candidate with the flat blade 
(this was called bestowing the accolade), calling him by 
name, and bidding him rise and receive his kiss of welcome 
into the order of chivalry. 

Other knights, or fair maidens of high degree, then 
helped him don the different parts of a knight's armour. 
The fact that a knight had to undergo such a preparation, 
and take such solemn vows, tended to make him braver and 
better than he would otherwise have been ; and a true 
gentleman nowadays is one who, like the knights of old, 
is strictly honourable in all things and gentle towards 
every one. 

During the chivalric ages, the knights were in the habit 
of making strange vows, such as not to rest until they had 
fought a number of battles or won a certain prize in a 
tournament. When Edward started to make war in 
France, some of the nobles declared they would wear a 
patch over one eye until they had beaten the French! 

Ladies also made queer vows, and we are told that when 
good Queen Philippa heard that Edward had begun the 
siege of Calais, she swore she would not change a certain 
linen kerchief she wore until he had taken the city. As 
the siege lasted ten months, the queen's kerchief had time 
to grow very yellow. Her ladies, to look as much like her 
as possible, wore unbleached linen, and thus ecru became 
the fashionable colour. 



162 



LIV. THE BATTLE OF POITIERS. 

THE black death no sooner ceased its ravages than 
the Hundred Years' War was renewed. This time 
it was carried on from the south, because the Black Prince 
had taken up his abode in Guienne and held his court at 
Bordeaux (bor-do ; ). The French king who had been de- 
feated at Crecy was dead, but his son, John I., had collected 
a large army to drive the English out of the realm. 

After four years of fighting, in the course of which no 
great battle occurred, the French hemmed in the English 
forces near Poitiers (pwah-ti-a') in 1356. The English 
army was only about eight thousand strong, while the 
French were five times as numerous. The Prince of 
Wales, seeing the odds against him, cried, " God help us! 
It only remains for us to fight bravely!" 

He felt so sure of defeat that he allowed a priest to try 
to make peace ; but when he heard that the French king 
would consent only on condition that he surrender with 
one hundred knights, he haughtily answered that he would 
never be made a prisoner of war, except sword in hand. 

Thus forced to fight, the Englishmen behaved so well 
that, in spite of the dashing courage of the Frenchmen, 
they not only won the victory, but took John and one 
of his sons prisoners. The Prince of Wales, like a true 
knight, treated his captives with the utmost courtesy, 
even waiting in person upon the king at table. 

The royal prisoners were soon taken to England. They 
entered London in state, almost as if they were the victors, 
Tohn wearing his regal mantle and sitting upon a magnifi- 



i6 



cent steed, while his conqueror, plainly clad and riding a 
pony, escorted him with every mark of respect. 

The captive king was lodged in the Savoy Palace, where 
he staid three years, while his son governed France in his 
name. At the end of that time, the treaty of Bretigny 
(bre-teen-yi') was signed, and it was agreed that John 
should return to France upon paying three million crowns 
of gold, and that Edward should renounce all claims to the 
throne of France. But the English king kept many prov- 
inces in France, which were all governed by the Black 
Prince from his court at Bordeaux. 

John went home, but finding that the money could not 
be raised, and hearing that two of the princes whom he 
had left in England as hostages had escaped, he went 
back of his own free will, and staid in London until he died. 
The new French king, however, managed so cleverly that 
in ten years the French gradually recovered the greater part 
of their lost territory without fighting any great battles. 

The Black Prince's health was so undermined by an un- 
successful war in Spain that he was no longer able to sit 
upon his horse, and had to be carried in a litter. The 
pain he suffered affected his temper, and instead of being 
gentle and courteous as of old, he became cruel and re- 
vengeful. 

The people of Limoges (lee-mozh') having revolted, the 
Black Prince went thither, and after taking the town he 
put all the inhabitants to death. But this act of cruelty 
did not prevent other cities from revolting too, and four 
years after the Black Prince finally left France, there re- 
mained only five cities that still belonged to the English. 

The Black Prince died at forty-six, not long after his 

STO. OF EXG. — II 



1 64 

return to England. He was buried in the Cathedral of 
Canterbury, where the armour he wore still hangs near 
the place where his body rests. All England mourned 
for him, and one of his friends died of grief at his loss* 

The Normans and the Saxons, who had hitherto been 
rivals, had become friends while fighting against the 
French. These wars also had the effect of making France 
and England dislike each other, and the Norman nobles, 
who had hitherto spoken French, now considered it more 
patriotic to talk English. So, while there had formerly 
been three languages in England, — Latin for the church 
and for scientific writings; French for the court, for the 
nobility, for story books, and for lawsuits ; and English for 
the common people, — there was now but one language for 
all practical purposes. 

Much of this reform was brought about by the war, but 
it was also helped on greatly by the fact that some of the 
learned men now began to write in English. One of these 
men is the noted English reformer Wyc'lif, "the Morning 
Star of English prose," of whom you will soon hear more. 
Another is the poet Chaucer, who is called " the Morning 
Star of English poetry." He composed the delightful 
poems known as " The Canterbury Tales," in which he re- 
lates the stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way 
to visit the shrine of St. Thomas of Canterbury. 

Edward carried on so many wars during his long reign 
that he had to depend upon the good will of Parliament to 
supply him with necessary funds. This body took advan- 
tage of these necessities to win certain privileges and to 
work certain reforms, which all tended to limit the power 
of the king and to extend the privileges of the people. 



i65 



The end of Edward's life was very sad. He had lost 
his wife and favourite child, and for a time he became the 
dupe of a woman named Alice Per'rers, who pretended she 
loved him dearly. But she was only a vulgar and grasp- 
ing woman, and when she had secured all the dead queen's 
jewels, and much money and land, she forsook the king on 
his deathbed, after stealing even his last finger ring. A 
priest, coming into the room, found the dying king all 




Throne Room, Windsor Castle. 



alone, forsaken by every one. He held his cross before 
the monarch's eyes, and staid with him until he breathed 
his last, and his fifty years' reign was ended. 

Edward III. was a great warrior and very ambitious, but, 
as you have seen, he did not retain his French conquests 
very long. He built the palace of Windsor (win'zor) by 
levying troops of workmen, on the same plan as the Nor- 



1 66 



man kings raised an army in time of war. He was the last 
king who did this, however, for the people were gradually 
growing more independent. 




Windsor Castle, from the Thames. 



>^< 



LV. THE PEASANTS' REVOLT. 

EDWARD III. was succeeded on the throne of Eng- 
land by his grandchild Richard II., the son of the 
valiant Black Prince. The new king was then only ten 
years old, so his uncles wondered how he would behave 
during the long coronation services. But he was so hand- 
some and obedient that they had no trouble with him. 
He did everything they bade him ; still, the tedious cere- 
monies tired him so much that he had to be carried off to 
bed. Little kings cannot take their ease and lie abed as 
long as they choose ; so the men soon roused Richard 



167 

again, to preside over a grand banquet, where his health 
was drunk, and where he had to listen to long speeches. 

As the king was far too young to reign himself, his 
three uncles, the Dukes of York, Lancaster, and Glouces- 
ter, had all the power, but unfortunately they did not 
always agree. 

The wars in France and in Scotland still required much 
money, and Parliament was called upon to supply it, and 
also to pay for the expensive coronation festivities. As 
the existing taxes were not enough to meet all these de- 
mands, it was decided that every person over fifteen should 
pay a shilling to the king. For the rich this was a mere 
trifle ; but there were many poor who earned so little that 
it was impossible for them to pay it. 

The news of this tax, therefore, caused great dismay and 
indignation among the working classes ; and when the tax- 
collectors came, roughly demanding their money, they were 
received with scowls and threats. They finally came to 
the house of a blacksmith named Wat Tyler. He had a 
daughter of fourteen, who was so tall and womanly-looking 
that the men insisted upon her paying one shilling too. 

In vain she protested that she was only fourteen. The 
tax-collector not only refused to believe her, but actually 
began to illtreat her. The girl's screams, however, were 
heard by her father, who rushed out of his forge, hammer 
in hand, and in his anger killed the collector. 

When the tax-collector's friends came to arrest Wat 
Tyler, they found him surrounded by his poor neigh- 
bours, who swore they would protect him because he had 
killed the man in defending his child. Excited by this 
event and by the speeches of another workman, Jack 



168 



btraw, and of a poor preacher, John Ball, these men, with 
nearly one hundred thousand others from many parts 
of England, finally decided to march to London. They 
wanted to tell the king that they could not pay the tax, 
and to beg him to make new laws so they should no longer 
be forced to work for their lords without receiving wages. 

The mob entered London, and after wandering about 
the streets helplessly, burned a few houses, and destroyed 
all the papers and records which the lawyers kept in the 
Temple. They also declared that strangers had no busi- 
ness in England ; so they stopped all the passers-by, and 
killed those who could not pronounce "bread and cheese" 
with the proper English accent. 

Their clamours terrified the Londoners, and for a while 
no one knew what to do. Strange to relate, the young 
king, who was but fifteen years old, was the only one who 
kept his presence of mind. As his uncles were all away, 
Richard made a proclamation, saying he would meet the 
rebels on a plain outside the city, on the next day, to hear 
their complaints. 

LVI. RICHARD'S PRESENCE OF MIND. 

THE greater part of the mob believed Richard and went 
out of the city to wait for him. True to his promise, 
Richard rode out the next day, and after listening to their 
grievances he promised that the tax should be removed, 
and that all serfs should be freed from their masters. Then 
he dismissed them, asking them to leave two men from 
each village, so he could give them his written promise. 



1 6 9 

The mob was quite satisfied, and disbanded, while the 
young king set thirty clerks to writing the promised papers. 
But while Richard was busy thus, Wat Tyler, Jack Straw, 
and a few others, thinking he meant to deceive them, 
forced their way into the Tower to find him. Their search 
proved vain, and in their anger they killed the Archbishop 
of Canterbury and several other persons. 

The next day, as Richard was riding through Smithfield 
with the Mayor of London and sixty attendants, he met 
this division of the mob. Tyler now stepped forward to 
speak to the king. In his excitement he used a loud and 
threatening tone, and, laying his hand upon his sword, half 
drew it from the scabbard. 

The mayor, fancying that Wat Tyler was about to strike 
the king, felled him to the ground with one blow. When 
the mob saw their leader fall, they advanced with angry 
cries ; but Richard rode boldly forward, saying, " My 
friends, be not concerned for the loss of your unworthy 
leader. I, your king, will be your leader!" 

Then, turning, he rode ahead, they blindly following 
him. His escort, in the meantime, had dashed off into 
the city in search of help, and soon came to rescue him 
with thousands of brave men. When the mob saw these 
soldiers coming, they fell on their knees, begging for 
mercy, and they scattered thankfully when the king as- 
sured them of his forgiveness and bade them go home. 

The heads of Wat Tyler and a few of the men who had 
taken part in the murder of the archbishop were exposed 
on London Bridge, and the rebellion, which is generally 
known as the Peasants' Revolt, was ended. But, unhap- 
pily, most of Richard's promises were set aside by Parlia- 



170 

ment, and although the poll tax was stopped, the other 
grievances went on as before. 

You see that Richard was fearless and generous at first. 
In spite of these qualities, he made a very poor king. This 
was principally owing to the bad bringing up he received. 
His uncles were proud of ruling, and, hoping to retain the 
power, they did not let him learn anything useful, but 
kept him amused by surrounding him with worthless flat- 
terers and vain shows. They found him a wife when he 
was little more than a boy, but she was fortunately so 
gentle and lovable that she was called good Queen Anne. 

Richard's uncles, in the meantime, were having much 
trouble with Rome because the pope did not like the 
teachings of Wyclif, a man whom the queen and the Duke 
of Lancaster greatly admired. Wyclif declared that many 
of the priests had grown rich and lazy, and that they took 
no pains to teach and help the poor. He therefore trans- 
lated the Bible into English, so that the unlearned could 
read it as well as the learned. Then he preached so elo- 
quently to his Oxford students that many of them travelled 
all through England and Europe, preaching the gospel. 

The wandering teachers often sang hymns, so the people 
called them the singers, or Lollards, a name which was 
soon given to all those whose teachings were different from 
those of the Roman Catholic Church. The pope thought 
Wyclif was very wrong, and therefore forced him to go 
away from Oxford and to withdraw to a little village called 
Lut'ter-worth. But although Wyclif could no longer teach 
at Oxford, he had already sown the seed of the Protestant 
religion, so he is called " the Morning Star of the Refor- 
mation." He died at Lutterworth, in his little church; 



i7i 

and thirty years after his death he had won many con- 
verts. The Catholics considered his teachings so wrong 
that they had his bones taken out of their grave and burned. 
His ashes were cast into a brook, which carried them into 
a river, and finally into the ocean. But Wyclif's ashes 
were not scattered any farther than his writings and teach- 
ings, for, as you know, there are now Protestants in all parts 
of the world. 

LVII. A TINY QUEEN. 

THESE religious troubles were not all. War arose, 
and the king's uncles had to carry it on. But as 
they were quite selfish, you will not be surprised to hear 
that one of them, Lancaster, took the money which Par- 
liament gave him for the war in France, and used it in se- 
curing the throne of Castile in Spain for his daughter. 

Besides the war in Castile and France, there was a war 
with Scotland, the principal battle being won by Douglas 
and the Scots against the English under Percy Hotspur. 
This battle took place at Ot'ter-burn, and it gave rise to 
a ballad which was sung for several centuries — the " Bal- 
lad of Chevy Chase." 

The Duke of Gloucester, one of the king's uncles, had 
used his power very unwisely, and had, besides, angered 
the king by putting to death his tutor, although Queen 
Anne knelt before Gloucester three hours, imploring him 
to spare the good man's life. Richard was naturally indig- 
nant, and shortly after this turned to his uncle in full coun- 
cil, and abruptly asked : " How old am I?" 



172 

" Your majesty is in your twenty-second year," an- 
swered Gloucester. 

" Then I am old enough to reign," cried the king, and 
he dismissed the council. 

Gloucester, deprived of the regency, now plotted against 
the king, who therefore sent him a prisoner to Calais. 
Here the duke died, and it is generally supposed that he 
was secretly put to death by Richard's order. 

When good Queen Anne died, leaving no children, 
Richard decided to marry again, and after much thought 
he selected Isabella, daughter of the King of France. 
When he made this choice known, one of his courtiers 
objected that the princess was too young, as she was only 
eight years old. But the king answered, " The lady's age 
is a fault which every day will remedy," and sent an em- 
bassy to France to ask her hand in marriage. 

Isabella was so little that every one wondered how she 
would behave. The men were brought before her, and 
when the ambassador had knelt and kissed her hand, he 
said : " Madam, if it please God, you shall be our lady and 
queen." 

Baby as she still was, little Isabella gravely answered : 
" Sir, if it please God and my father that I be Queen of 
England, I shall be well pleased, for I am told I shall be 
a great lady." 

The grandest outfit you ever heard of was made ready 
for this little queen, who was escorted to England by the 
embassy, and solemnly crowned at Westminster Abbey. 
She was so sweet and little that every one loved her; and 
the king used to visit her every day in her nursery, where 
he actually played dolls with her. He was so kind to the 



173 

little queen that she loved him dearly, and she never for- 
got her playfellow, who was a good-hearted man, although 
a weak and worthless king. 

The Duke of Lancaster was dead by this time, and his 
son, Henry of Bol'ing-broke, had been exiled by the king. 
Richard now thought it would be a good chance to seize 
this cousin's property ; so he took possession of it, just be- 
fore leaving for Ireland, where war awaited him. 

Henry of Bolingbroke, or Lancaster, as he is called, now 
begged the Duke of Brittany to help him regain his es- 
tates. The duke consented, and while Richard was in 
Ireland, Henry landed in England. He was soon joined 
by a large force, and, seeing that the people were tired of 
their weak king Richard, Henry began to think of taking 
the throne himself. 

Richard, hearing of his cousin's arrival, came back to 
England as fast as winds and waves would allow him ; but 
he no sooner landed than his army deserted him. He 
then took refuge in Flint Castle ; but Henry of Lancaster 
came there to get him, and by false promises persuaded 
him to go to London and there resign his crown. 

The weak Richard offered no resistance to his cousin's 
entreaties, and after he had given up his crown to Henry, 
he withdrew to Pontefract (pom'fret) Castle, where he 
died in the year 1400, having been put to death, some 
say, by his cousin's order. Little Queen Isabella showed 
more spirit than he, for she refused to recognize Henry as 
king, and scorned to marry his sen when she became a 
widow at twelve. After being kept a prisoner for some 
time, and being deprived of her attendants and jewels, she 
was finally allowed to go back to her father's court. 



174 



LVIII. HENRY'S TROUBLES. 



RICHARD II. was the last of eight real Plantagenet 
or Angevine kings, and his successor, Henry IV., 
was the first ruler of the house of Lancaster. Although 
Richard had left no children, Henry could not claim to 
inherit the throne, because the seven-year-old Earl of 
March was next of kin. But Parliament then often gave 
the crown to any member of the royal family. 

Henry IV. therefore became king through act of Parlia- 
ment. His reign was not free from care, as you will soon 
see, for at first there were so many quarrels among the 
members of Parliament that as many as forty challenges 
were given and received in the House in one day. Be- 
sides that, a conspiracy 



1 



m; 



1JS 



' ' '" J I'.'-i' 



was soon formed to de- 
pose Henry and replace 
Richard. To show that 
Richard's death was not 
owing to violence, his 



m 



w Mi 



^SS&L^i" ■ r f" ' S* r ^~i^<?^S^ body was publicly ex 

posed in London. But 
as only the face was vis- 
ible, people never felt 
sure that his death had 
been natural. 

To prevent his ene- 
mies from trying to put the young Earl of March on the 
throne, Henry kept him a prisoner in Windsor Castle, and 
never allowed him to go out, except under safe escort. 



Norman Gateway, Windsor Castle. 



175 

As Parliament had elected him king, Henry was forced 
to respect its wishes and to grant many things it asked. 
He also tried to gain the friendship of pope and clergy, 
and to please them he allowed the Lollards to be perse- 
cuted, and even to be burned at the stake, as heretics or 
unbelievers. 

Henry's conscience often troubled him sorely for the 
crime he had committed to secure the crown, and he lived 
in constant dread of seeing some one snatch the crown 
from him. He was also afraid of being murdered ; for we 
are told that once, when about to get into his bed, he 
found in it a frightful instrument with many sharp blades. 

Although Wales had long been part of the English realm, 
Henry IV. had to put down a rebellion of the Welsh, under 
Owen Glendower (glen'door), a descendant of Prince Lle- 
wellyn. This Welshman pretended to be a magician, and 
the people, excited by the bards' ballads, gladly rallied 
around him. For seven years Glendower baffled all Henry's 
efforts to capture him, for he and his followers used to 
retreat to Mount Snowdon, where they knew every foot 
of the ground and had secret hiding places. 

A war with Scotland also kept Henry busy, although it 
was carried on mainly by Percy Hotspur and his father. 
They won a victory over the Scots at Hom'il-don Hill ; 
but as the king would not allow them to sell their captives 
for a ransom, they revolted and joined forces with the 
Scots. Henry met the Percys and Scotchmen before they 
could join the Welsh army, and defeated them in the bat- 
tle of Shrews'bur-y, where Percy Hotspur was killed. In 
this battle the king's eldest son, Prince Hal, showed great 
bravery ; but the king himself, fearing to be recognized by 



176 

his armour, had several noblemen dress like him. Strange 
to relate, all these knights were killed, while Henry escaped. 

The Percy rebellion was scarcely quelled when Henry 
was called upon to put down another, led by Archbishop 
Scrope of York, who wanted to place the Earl of March 
upon the throne. His force, too, was defeated, and the 
priest himself was beheaded as a traitor, a punishment 
which had never yet befallen a member of the clergy. 
The common people fancied it was very wicked to execute 
an archbishop, even if he had sinned ; and when Henry 
became ill soon after, they thought it was a punishment 
sent by Heaven. 

Two years after the battle of Shrewsbury, Henry IV. 
succeeded in capturing the heir to the Scotch crown, who 
was on his way to France to be educated. By his order, 
this Prince James, the great-great-grandson of the famous 
Bruce, was brought to Windsor, and given so excellent 
an education that he afterwards became the best king 
who ever sat upon the Scotch throne, as well as a musician 
and a poet. 

LIX. MADCAP HARRY. 

AS we have seen, Henry IV. was often troubled by 
y\ remorse. He suffered greatly, and had so many 
worries that, if the poet Shakespeare is to be believed, he 
once said, " Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown." 
Besides his remorse, his disease, and his wars, Henry had 
another source of anxiety, for his son, Prince Hal, was a 
very wild young fellow. 



177 

He was not altogether bad, for he had proved himself 
very brave as a soldier and had even shown a great deal 
of wisdom in his father's council ; but the gay life of Lon- 
don was too tempting, and in the company of noisy, 
bragging companions, Madcap Harry, as the prince was 
often called, indulged in all manner of unprincely occupa- 
tions. He even went so far, it is said, as to waylay and 
rob peaceful travellers. In doing this he was, of course, 
breaking the law, which, as prince, he should have been 
the first to respect. 

After one of these highway robberies, so the story runs, 
some of his companions were arrested and brought before 
Judge Gascoigne (gas-coin'). He tried them, and, finding 
them guilty, sentenced them to the usual punishment. 
Prince Hal, who was present at the trial, strove to beg 
them off; and when the judge refused to grant his re- 
quest, the indignant prince struck him. 

The judge, knowing that the majesty of the law is 
greater than that of any prince, now ordered Madcap 
Harry off to prison. This made the young man realize 
how wrong he had been, so he apologized to the judge, 
and accepted his punishment submissively. When this 
was told to King Henry he joyfully exclaimed : " Happy 
is the king who possesses a judge who is not afraid to do 
his duty, and a son who is wise enough to submit to the 
law!" 

In the end of Henry's reign troops were sent to France 
to side with one of the parties engaged in civil war there. 
But although the king had been a mighty fighter, he no 
longer took great interest in the war, for he was rapidly 
growing worse. 



i 7 8 

During one of his prolonged fainting fits it is said that 
Prince Hal came into the room, and, fancying he was dead, 
carried off the crown. As soon as Henry recovered, he 
asked for it, and when the prince brought it back, he said : 
" Alas, fair son ! what right have you to the crown, when 
you know your father had none? " 

" My liege," answered the prince, firmly, " with your 
sword you won it, and with the sword I will keep it." 

A few days later the king had another fainting fit, while 
he was at prayers in Westminster Abbey. He was carried 
into the abbot's room ; there he opened his eyes and asked 
where he was. They told him he was in the " Jerusalem 
Chamber." Suddenly he remembered an old prophecy 
that he should die in Jerusalem, and, refusing to be re- 
moved, he breathed his last in that apartment. 

Perhaps the most famous man in Henry's reign was 
Whit'ting-ton, whose name you may have heard in nursery 
rhymes. He was the son of a nobleman ; but as his father 
had lost all his money, he went off to London to make his 
fortune. He became the apprentice of a cloth merchant, 
but grew discouraged because he had no friends, and left 
London. 

But, so runs the story, when he got outside the city and 
sat down to rest, his only friend, a cat, rubbing against his 
knees, he suddenly heard the Bow bells ring. The sound 
came to his ears, loud and clear, and the bells seemed to 
say : " Turn again, Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of 
London." Encouraged by such prospects, Whittington 
picked up his cat and went back to London. There he 
tried so hard that he became a good and rich man, and 
was actually elected three times Lord Mayor of London. 



179 

When Whittington died, ten years after Henry IV., he 
left all his immense fortune to the poor, to found several 
charitable institutions. 

Some people, however, say that Whittington's fortune 
was all made by a ship called the Cat, which brought coal 
from New'cas-tle to London to be sold at great profit. 
Others say that Whittington's cat was his old friend the 
real pussy, which he sent away to be sold in the East ; 
there it brought a large price, and thus proved the begin- 
ning of his fortune. 

LX. A GLORIOUS REIGN. 

WHEN Henry of Monmouth, the wild Prince Hal, 
heard that his father was dead, he went into his 
own room, and there spent the night in meditation and 
prayer. He was very sorry for the past, and fully deter- 
mined to do better in the future. W T hen morning came 
he put these good resolutions into practice. First, he sent 
for his former companions and told them that he was go- 
ing to reform and that he did not wish to see them again 
until they were willing to follow his example. 

Next, he sent for the grave and learned men who had 
helped his father, and begged them to give him also their 
advice; and he told Judge Gascoigne — whom he hon- 
oured for doing right, regardless of rank — that he hoped 
his judges would always administer justice in the same 
way. 

Having thus won his greatest victory by conquering 
himself, the new king set the Earl of March free, restored 

STO. OF ENG. — 12 



i8o 



their estates to the Percys, and buried Richard II. and 
Henry IV. among the other kings. 

Henry V. was able, energetic, and brave, as well as hand- 
some and warm-hearted ; so he soon won the affections of 
his subjects. His greatest fault was that he sorely perse- 
cuted the Lollards, whom he had been taught to believe 
very wicked. By his order, many of them were burned, 
among others old Lord Cobham, who, because he had once 
escaped from prison and joined some rebels, was accused 
of treason and heresy, and was consequently both burned 
and hanged. 

The new king, however, was most anxious to conquer 
new lands. As the French king was insane, and as his 
two principal subjects, the Dukes of Or'le-ans and Bur- 
gundy, were warring against each other, Henry fancied 
that it was a good time to invade France. He therefore 
renewed the claim to the French crown which had already 
been made by Edward III., and landed at Harfleur 
(ar-fler') with an army of fifteen thousand men. 

This city held out four months, hoping the French army 
would come to its rescue; but the troops could not leave 
Paris, as there was a quarrel about who should have com- 
mand. Seeing no help coming, the people of Harfleur 
were forced to surrender; but by this time the English 
soldiers were nearly all sick. 

Marching at the head of his army, and sharing all their 
hardships, Henry now set out for Calais; but on the way 
thither he was met by a French army of fifty thousand 
men. In spite of the great odds against him, the English 
king did not lose his presence of mind, and in his address 
to his troops he said that he intended to win great glory, 



i8i 



either by victory or by death. When a soldier remarked 
that he wished some of his countrymen were there to help 




S.r John Gilbert, Artist. 



The Morning of the Battle of Agincourt. 

them fight, the king cried : " If we are to die, I am glad 
we are so few ; but if we are to conquer, our glory will be 
all the greater if unshared." 

The French army consisted mainly of heavy cavalry, 
and as the ground was soaked with rain, the horses sank 
into the mud up to their knees. This fact told greatly in 
favour of the light-armed English bowmen, who, in spite 
of the bravery of the French, won a brilliant victory (1415)- 

Henry himself did wonders, and when the battle of 
Agincourt (ah-zhaN-koor') was ended, it was' found that 
while the English had lost only forty men, the French slain 
numbered more than ten thousand. The next day the 



182 



dead were buried ; and when Henry went back to Eng- 
land, his people rushed into the water at Dover to meet 
him and give him an uproarious welcome. 

Two years after this battle Henry went back to France 
with a new army. He besieged and took Rouen after ten 
months' effort, and finally became master of the greater 
part of France. The troubles in that kingdom had by this 
time grown so serious that many Frenchmen joined Henry, 
and a treaty was finally signed at Troyes (trwah) in 1420. 
It was then agreed that Henry should marry the French 
king's daughter, and that when the insane monarch died 
the King of England should reign in France too. 

So Henry made a triumphal entry into Paris, where he 
first saw Catherine, his future wife. If you care to know 




W F. Yeanies, Artist. 



Wooing of Henry V. 



18 



how an English king who knew very little French could 
make love to a French princess who knew only a few 
words of English, you can read all about it in one of 
Shakespeare's plays. 

During the next two years Henry and Catherine were 
very happy. But before their little son was a year old, 
Henry V. became very ill. He named his brother, the 
Duke of Gloucester, Regent of England, said the Duke of 
Bedford must rule France, and gave the guardianship of 
his little son to another nobleman. 

Henry died in France, at the age of thirty-four, and his 
body was carried home to be buried. His funeral was the 
grandest that had yet been seen in England, and upon his 
tomb, in Westminster Abbey, tapers were kept burning 
constantly for more than a hundred years. 

As Henry had to take so many troops over to France, 
he had many ships built ; and he has hence sometimes been 
called the founder of the English navy. He was a very 
brave king, but although he won much glory, he burdened 
England with debt, and by his unjust wars caused the 
death of about one hundred thousand men. 



J'.^c 



LX1. THE MAID OF ORLEANS. 

WHEN Henry V. died, his only child, Henry VI., was 
nine months old. The English crown was far too 
large and heavy for this baby monarch's head, and when 
the sceptre was brought, his tiny hand clutched it as if it 
had been a mere rattle. Fortunately for him, Henry VI. 



1 84 



had two very able uncles, the Dukes of Gloucester and 
Bedford, who governed England and France for him. 

Two months after the death, of Henry, the insane mon- 
arch of France breathed his last. According to the treaty 
of Troyes, Henry VI. was now King of France ; but the 
Dauphin Charles, the eldest son of the mad king, also 
claimed the crown, which by right did really belong to 
him. 

The northern part of France was now in the hands of 
the English, who in fun called the dauphin King of Bourges 
(boorzh), because they said he ruled only the province 
around a small town of that name. Charles had very few 
troops, but he often secured the help of the Scots, who 
hated the English because they kept the Scotch king, 
James I., a prisoner. The baby king's uncles now agreed to 
set James free, provided the Scots paid for his eighteen 
years' board, and promised they would not help the French 
or make war against the English for a term of seventeen 
years. 

It now seemed as if all would go well for the English. 
The Duke of Bedford, who was as good a warrior as Henry 
V., declared that as soon as he became master of the town 
of Orleans, which he was then besieging, he would con- 
sider all France conquered. Just then, however, a poor 
peasant girl, Joan of Arc, fancied that she had been chosen 
by Heaven to save her country from the English. She 
was good and earnest, and spoke so convincingly that 
people finally believed her. A knight from the neigh- 
bourhood took her to Bourges, where the king and his ad- 
visers allowed her to do as she wished and lead an army 
to the rescue of Orleans. 



185 

The common soldiers, who were very superstitious, be- 
lieved that Joan had seen visions and had spoken to angels, 
so they were ready to do all she told them. They felt sure 
they would win as long as she led them on. The rumour 
of her mission soon reached the ears of the English sol- 
diers, who dreaded her appearance, and said that if Heaven 
had sent her, their resistance would be vain. 

This state of feeling in the two armies grew much more 
marked when Joan actually fought her way into Orleans, 
bringing provisions to the famished inhabitants. They 
received her with rapture, and called her the " Maid of 
Orleans." But Joan was not yet satisfied, and she vowed 
she would not rest until she had driven the English away 
from Orleans and taken the dauphin to Rheims to be 
crowned in the same cathedral as all the kings before him. 

Joan kept her word. The English fled as she drew near. 
Town after town opened its gates when she appeared, 
wearing a suit of armour like a man, and sitting astride a 
great battle steed. Advancing thus, she won back many 
of the lost provinces, and at last Charles VII. was formally 
crowned. Then she said that her mission was ended, and 
begged permission to go home and tend her sheep. 

But the king would not let her go, and the generals, 
knowing the effect of her presence upon the minds of both 
armies, urged her to remain. Joan of Arc sadly yielded 
to their entreaties, but all her joyous confidence now for- 
sook her. The result was that in spite of her courage the 
French soldiers ceased to believe in her. One day, when 
she had headed a sally from the town of Compiegne (cawN- 
pyan'), they even treacherously forsook her. 

Poor Joan fell into the hands of a French knight, an ally 



1 86 



of the English, and he, seeing that her king had basely 
deserted her, sold her into their hands. Joan of Arc was 
then thrust into prison, treated with the most inhuman 
cruelty, and, after being accused of heresy and witchcraft, 
she was burned at the stake in Rouen, and her ashes were 
cast into the Seine! But the heroic Maid of Orleans died 
so bravely, on the very square where her statue now 
stands, that the English soldiers began to fear that they 
had killed a saint. Their dread, and the Frenchmen's 
indignation, gave the latter the advantage, and at each 
new defeat the English cried that it was a judgment 
against them for burning Joan. 

When the Duke of Bedford saw that France was lost, 
he died of grief, and was buried in Rouen. Some time 
afterwards Charles VII. became master of that city, and 
his soldiers proposed to open the duke's tomb and scatter 
his ashes abroad ; but the duke had fought so bravelv that 
Charles would not allow this, and said : " No ; let him re- 
pose in peace ; and be thankful that he does repose, for 
were he to awake he would make the stoutest of us 
tremble." 

The war between France and England went on several 
years longer, with occasional pauses. But the French 
steadily advanced, and the English finally found that the 
Hundred Years' War, which lasted from about 1338 to 
1453, cost them no end of men and money, but brought 
them little besides the glory won in the three great battles 
of Crecy, Poitiers, and Agincourt. During the reign of 
Henry VI. they lost, in fact, all the territory they had 
won in France, except the city of Calais, which they were 
to hold for another century. 



I8 7 



LXII. THE BEGINNING OF THE WAR 
OF THE ROSES. 

HENRY VI. was carefully brought up by his great- 
uncle, Cardinal Beau'fort. But he was, unfortu- 
nately, not very clever. He was very quiet and timid, 
and as he had no will of his own and was easily flattered 
and directed, the people around him fancied it would be 
the best thing for him to marry a clever wife. 

But Cardinal Beaufort and the Duke of Gloucester could 
not agree who this wife should be ; and when Henry VI., 
at twenty-four, married the fifteen-year-old Margaret 
of Anjou, Gloucester was very angry. To obtain this 
bright young princess for his stupid nephew, the cardinal 
had to give up two French provinces, and to accept her 
without a dowry. 

One reason that Gloucester had so far lost his influence 
was that he had fallen into disgrace with the king a few 
years before. His wife tried to harm the king by witch- 
craft, in the hope that her own husband might then come 
to the throne. With this object, she made a waxen image 
of Henry and set it before the fire, believing that as the 
wax melted, the king's strength would leave him. Of 
course this belief was the greatest nonsense, but it was very 
common in those days, and the duchess's intentions were 
no better for the fact that her way of carrying them out 
was so foolish. In punishment she was forced to do pub- 
lic penance by walking through the streets holding a lighted 
taper, and then was imprisoned for life. 

Little by little the king's total incapacity became more 



1 8*8 



evident. Everything was going wrong, and the queen 
and her advisers made things worse. The people began 
to murmur, and some said it was no wonder that things 
were not right when the country was ruled by an idiot 
king, who, after all, had no real claim to the throne. 

For the people now remembered that the Lancasters 
were descended from the third son of Edward III., while 
the Duke of York, on his mother's side, was the direct 
descendant of the second son. The Duke of York, more- 
over, was a very popular man, so the people said he ought 
to be king, or at least to govern instead of the queen and 
her adviser Suffolk. They next accused Suffolk of having 
spent a great deal of money to no purpose, and of having 
lost France by his carelessness. He was tried and found 
guilty, but the queen pleaded so hard for him that he was 
merely exiled for five years instead of being condemned to 
death. This did not please his enemies, who overtook him 
at sea, and beheaded him on the side of a boat. 

The nobles were, as you see, discontented with the state 
of affairs. So were many of the poor, who finally rebelled 
and came marching to London, led by Jack Cade. These 
twenty thousand men defeated the king's troops at Seven- 
oaks, and marched into London, where their leader proudly 
struck an old Roman milestone, called the " London Stone," 
crying, " I am master of London." 

The mob was at first quite orderly, and only made a 
" complaint," in which the people said the king had bad 
advisers and asked that a few laws should be changed. 
After a while, however, they became excited and killed 
several prominent men. When they left the city, to spend 
the night in their camp at Southwark, the troops guarded 



i'89 

London Bridge, and would not allow them to return the 
next day. A proclamation was then made, promising 
pardon and redress if they dispersed. , So they scattered ; 
but their leader, Jack Cade, upon whose head a price had 
been set, was overtaken and killed, and his head was 
placed on London Bridge to serve as a warning to rebels. 

The poor weak king became quite insane in 1454, so 
Parliament decreed that the Duke of York should govern 
in his stead as Protector. This decision made the queen 
very angry, and when the king recovered a gleam of rea- 
son, she made him send York away and give the power 
to her and her new adviser Som'er-set. 

The result was that there were now two parties in the 
country. The one in favour of the queen and Somerset 
was called the Lancaster party and wore a red rose as 
badge. The party in favour of the Duke of York was 
called the York party and wore a white rose. These two 
parties, not content with quarrelling, soon began fighting, 
and the civil war they waged was called the War of the 
Roses. 

LXIII. THE QUEEN AND THE BRIGAND. 

THE War of the Roses began about two years after the 
Hundred Years' War ended. It lasted nearly thirty 
years, and in it twelve battles were fought and about one 
hundred thousand people perished. It was in many re- 
spects worse than the Hundred Years' War, because now 
the English were fighting against one another, and because 
they displayed great cruelty and showed no mercy. 



190 

In the first great battle of the War of the Roses, that 
of St. Albans, the Duke of Somerset was killed, and the 
Yorkists captured the poor wounded king. Then for a 
short time the Duke of York was again protector. But 
the party of Lancaster rallied around the queen to con- 
tinue the struggle. 

The Duke of York, finding that many people were op- 
posed to the idea of his being king, now went off to Ireland, 
leaving his cause in the hands of his brother-in-law, the 
Earl of Warwick, who was one of the richest men in Eng- 
land. This nobleman had lands and castles, thirty thou- 
sand people were fed at his tables every day, and as he was 
well liked he could raise an army whenever he pleased. 

Left at the head of the Yorkist party, Warwick collected 
troops, and defeated the Lan-cas'tri-ans at the battle of 
Northampton. Henry VI. was again captured, and was 
now forced to recognize the Duke of York as his heir. But 
Queen Margaret, at the head of a Lancastrian army, soon 
defeated the Yorkists at Wakefield, and in this battle the 
Duke of York was killed. By Margaret's order, his head 
was cut off and exhibited upon the walls of York, wearing 
a paper crown. 

Margaret, encouraged by this victory, now marched on 
London to deliver the captive king. But she was met on 
the way by Warwick, and at St. Albans a second battle 
took place, in which the queen was victorious. Warwick 
was forced to flee, leaving the king in her hands. 

As Margaret's followers had disgraced themselves by 
plundering all along the road, London refused to admit 
her when she appeared, and preferred to open its gates to 
the new Duke of York. Warwick, who entered with him, 



then asked the people whether they wanted a York or a 
Lancaster for king, and they clamoured for a York. So 
Warwick led his nephew to Westminster, where he was 
publicly proclaimed as Edward IV., King of England. 

The new king was only nineteen, but he was handsome 
and clever, and would have made a good ruler, had he not 
been cruel and self-indulgent. As the Lancastrians would 
not submit, he fought against them at Towton, where he 
celebrated his victory by being even more harsh than 
usual. After this battle he was formally crowned as king, 
and he named his two brothers, George and Richard, 
Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester. 

Queen Margaret fled to Scotland with her helpless hus- 
band and son, and, having secured new troops by jour- 
neying twice to France, she invaded England. But the 
Lancastrians were again defeated in the battles of Hedgeley 
Moor and Hexham. The deposed king, Henry VI., escaped 
only because he was well mounted; but after dodging his 
enemies for about a year, he was betrayed into their hands. 
Warwick tied his feet under his horse, made him ride around 
the pillory (whipping post), and, after many similar indig- 
nities, thrust him into the Tower. 

As for Queen Margaret, she fled with her little son. In 
crossing a forest, she fell into the hands of a party of brig- 
ands. While these men were quarrelling over the division 
of her jewels, she managed to escape with her son. But 
she had not gone far before she met another robber. 
Stepping up to him boldly, she pushed her boy towards 
him, saying, " Protect the son of your king." 

Thus appealed to, the brigand led the queen and prince 
to his retreat, where he hid them for a few days. Then 




W. Christian Symons, Artist. 

(192) Margaret of Anjou and the Robber. 



193 

he helped them to cross over to France, where Queen 
Margaret had many friends. It was well for her that she 
managed to escape, for all the nobles who had sided with 
her were now reduced to beggary. We are told that one 
Lancastrian lord had to become a shepherd, and that the 
Countess of Oxford had to support her family by doing 
needlework and by begging in the streets. 



>:*#<< 



LXIV. THE TRIUMPH OF THE YORKS. 

WARWICK, not satisfied with reducing the Lancas- 
trians to poverty and placing his nephew upon the 
throne, now began to scheme to make the king marry 
some great princess. But while he was trying to find a 
royal bride for Edward, the latter suddenly married a 
beautiful widow named Elizabeth Woodville. This step 
made Warwick angry, and when he saw that the new 
queen's father, brothers, sisters, and numerous other rela- 
tives had been given all the most important places at 
court, and were behaving with great insolence, he was in- 
dignant. 

The king's brother, the Duke of Clarence, now married 
Warwick's daughter; and, helped by him and by Richard 
of Gloucester, Warwick began to plan his revenge. He 
formed a plot to place Henry VI. on the throne again, in- 
stead of Edward, provided Henry's son should marry 
Warwick's other daughter. 

Queen Margaret and her son gladly consented to this, 
and in 1470 Warwick landed in England with a large 



194 

army to take the throne away from Edward. Many of 
the noblemen, who were jealous of the Woodvilles, now 
joined Warwick, and Edward IV., seeing it was useless 
to try to resist, made his escape on a fishing vessel. His 
wife, Elizabeth, was too ill to go with him, so she took 
refuge in a church, where her son, the future Edward V., 
was born. 

As soon as Warwick reached London, Henry was 
dragged out of prison, and made king once more by the 
very man who had helped crown his enemy. But he was 
not to reign long, for the Yorkists, regaining courage and 
being led by Edward IV., won the victory of Bar'net. In 
this battle Warwick the " kingmaker," the last of the great 
barons who used to lead their vassals to war, was killed. 
With his death the age of chivalry was over. 

The Duke of Clarence basely deserted Warwick at the 
last minute, and joined his brother, who forgave him for 
his rebellion. Warwick was closely followed by Queen 
Margaret with another army. Wlien she landed, she heard 
of her ally's defeat and death ; but, seeing it was too late 
to withdraw, she pressed onward. 

The Lancastrians and Yorkists met for their last battle 
at Tewkes'bur-y, where the former were defeated, and 
where Margaret and her son both fell into the hands of 
Edward IV. King Edward then angrily asked the prince 
how he dared come into his kingdom in arms. 

" I came to recover my father's kingdom," proudly 
answered the young prince. But these words made Ed- 
ward so angry that he struck the youth. This was enough 
for the Dukes of Clarence and Gloucester ; they imme- 
diately drew their daggers and murdered their captive. 



195 

Poor Queen Margaret was thrust into prison, but after 
lingering there five years, she was ransomed by her father, 
who sold all his estates to free her. 

Edward IV., having won the battle of Tewkesbury, 
went back to London in triumph. On the next day, 
Henry VI., the last of the three Lancastrian kings, was 
found dead in his prison. 

Although he had won back his throne, Edward IV. was 
not very happy. As he was always afraid lest some one 
should try to snatch the power from him, he hired ever so 
many spies to watch the princes and report all they said. 
Then, hoping to recover France, he collected a large army ; 
but when he got over there, instead of making use of it, 
he concluded a disgraceful peace. When he came home, 
Gloucester, envious of his brother the Duke of Clarence, 
poisoned the king's mind against him. This was easy, for 
the behaviour of Clarence was such as to anger a king who 
liked to have his own way. 

Some say that the king's suspicion of him came from 
an old prophecy that a man whose name began with G 
should kill the king's children. However this may be, 
George, Duke of Clarence, was soon arrested, tried by 
Parliament, found guilty of treason, and condemned to die. 
We are told that, being given his choice, Clarence begged 
to be drowned in a butt of malmsey, his favourite wine. 

After Clarence's death, Richard, the Duke of Gloucester, 
was the most influential man at court, and he encouraged 
the king to be very cruel and tyrannical. Under the 
Lancasters, and indeed ever since the time of Edward II.., 
Parliament had had much power, and England was what 
is called a constitutional monarchy, or a kingdom ruled by 

STO. OF ENG. — 13 



96 



fixed laws. But under the Yorks the power of Parliament 
grew less and less, and the monarchy became almost abso- 
lute ; that is to say, the king did just as he pleased. 

Great changes were brought about at this time by the in- 
troduction of printing by Caxton. This man had learned 




King Edward IV. visiting Caxton's Press. 

printing on the Continent, and he brought the first press 
to London. Among the first books which he printed was 
"The Game and Playe of the Chesse," for people were 
then very fond of that game. 



J^c 



LXV. THE PRINCES IN THE TOWER. 



BEFORE Edward IV. died, he foresaw that there 
might be trouble between his brother Richard and 
his wife's kindred, so he used his last breath to implore 



197 

them to be friends. As soon as he was dead, two of the 
queen's relatives, Earl Rivers and Lord Grey, took charge 
of Edward V., the eldest son and successor of the king, 
while the queen withdrew into a sanctuary with her other 
children. Edward V. was on his way to be crowned at 
London, when his uncle Richard, Duke of Gloucester, 
came to meet him. During the first day's journey all went 
well, but on the second day Richard suddenly had Rivers 
and Grey seized by his guards. They were then dragged 
off to prison in spite of the little king's entreaties. 

Having thus got rid of the queen's relatives, Richard, 
whose plan was to secure the throne for himself, led the 
little king to the Tower, where he was to stay until his 
coronation. Then, calling Parliament, Richard got from 
it the title of Protector, for Edward was too young to 
reign alone. 

A few days later, Richard suddenly accused Lord Has- 
tings, a friend of the late king, of treason. In proof, he 
showed his deformed arm, and told the assembled council 
that its shrunken appearance was due to the witchcraft of 
Hastings's friends. Now every one knew that this was 
not true, but no one dared oppose Richard. He there- 
fore called the guards, and bade them immediately be- 
head Lord Hastings, adding that he would not dine until 
he knew the traitor was dead. 

The guards obeyed, and Lord Hastings was beheaded 
in the courtyard, on a convenient log of wood, without any 
further trial. Then some guards were sent off to Ponte- 
fract Castle, where Rivers and Grey were put to death, 
under the pretext that they also were traitors. 

Thus rid of the men who would have been most likely 



J 98 

to oppose him, Richard, still pretending that he was de- 
voted to the little king, sent for the latter's brother, Rich- 
ard, Duke of York. The queen hated to let her second 
son go, but he joyfully entered the Tower to join his 
brother. As Richard now had both of these princes in his 
power, he made his friend Bucking-ham tell the people 
that they were not the dead king's own offspring, and that 
he, Richard of Gloucester, ought to be king. 

Buckingham managed -so cleverly that he persuaded a 
few persons to go and offer the crown to Richard. The 
latter pretended at first to be shocked and surprised ; but 
finally he accepted the crown and the title of Richard III. 
Still, although he had a grand coronation feast, he felt 
that he should never be safe so long as his brother's sons 
were alive ; so he resolved to put them to death. 

Two murderers were therefore sent to the Tower, bear- 
ing an order to the governor, who was forced to give up 
his keys to them for one night. When the governor came 
back the next day, he rushed to the princes' room, but 
found it empty. A few days later it became generally 
known that the little princes were no more; but it was 
only after Richard's death that it was discovered how they 
had been killed. 

It was then reported that the murderers, finding them 
asleep on their bed, clasped in each other's arms and with 
their prayer book beside them, smothered them under a 
big feather bed. Then they took the bodies and secretly 
buried them under one of the Tower staircases. Two 
hundred years later, a mason, in repairing some broken 
steps, found the bones of two children, and everybody 
now believes that they were those of the murdered princes. 




J. E. Millais, Artist. 



The Princes in the Tower. 



(199) 



200 



LXVI. RICHARD'S PUNISHMENT. 

RICHARD III. bestowed many gifts upon his accom- 
plice Buckingham, to reward him for so cleverly 
helping him to secure the throne. But a man who is not 
faithful to one master is likely to betray another ; so the 
Duke of Buckingham, fancying that Richard did not do 
enough for him, soon began to plot to give the crown to 
the Earl of Richmond, Henry Tu'dor. 

Henry Tudor was a descendant of the third son of Ed- 
ward III., and also of a Welshman named Owen Tudor. 
Being thus the head of the Lancastrians, he made his claim 
to the throne stronger by promising to marry Princess 
Elizabeth, the eldest daughter of Edward IV., and hence 
the heiress of the house of York. 

Buckingham proposed this marriage to Henry, and in- 
vited him to come over to England to claim the throne. 
But when Buckingham began his rebellion against Richard, 
a terrible rainstorm so terrified his adherents that they 
deserted, and Buckingham himself was betrayed into the 
hands of King Richard, who had him executed as a traitor. 

During the next two years Richard governed England 
very wisely ; but although he was an able king, he was a 
very unhappy man. His son, the only creature whom he 
loved, fell sick and died, and Richard mourned him sorely. 
Besides that, Richard was haunted by remorse, and in his 
dreams he saw the spirits of all his unhappy victims. 

Hoping to win the people's affection and to have a child 
to inherit his throne, Richard now thought of marrying 
his own niece, the Princess Elizabeth. But when he saw 



201 



that every one disapproved of this match, he gave it up. 
The rumour of his intentions, however, reached Henry of 
Richmond, who came over from Brittany with an army. 
Richard, who had taken part in the battles of Barnet and 
Tewkesbury, and who was very brave, collected an army 
and went to meet his rival, determined to conquer or die. 

On the night of the battle, it is said, Richard, asleep in 
his tent, was, as usual, haunted by the ghosts of his victims. 
This seemed to him a bad omen, and on the next day, just 
as the battle of Bos'worth was about to begin, his com- 
mander in chief deserted him. Richard nevertheless 
called for his horse and dashed forward, hoping to meet 
and slay his hated rival. But in spite of all his courage, 
he was cut down, and fell head first, mortally wounded, 
into a brook. The crown, which a moment before sparkled 
so proudly upon his helmet, rolled under a hawthorn bush, 
and was picked up by Henry's soldiers, who crowned their 
leader on the battlefield. 

Richard's body was carelessly thrown across a horse's 
back and carried to Leicester (les'ter), where it was buried. 
But the last of the York kings was not even to rest in 
peace in his grave. Some years later his body was torn 
out of its stone tomb, which from that time on served as 
a common watering trough. 

Richard III., the last of the three York kings, was the 
last of the family of the Plantagenets, which ruled Eng- 
land for three hundred and thirty years. The battle of 
Bosworth (1485) marks the end of the Wars of the Roses, 
and also the end of feudalism, which had been introduced 
into England by William the Conqueror, at the battle of 
Hastings, four hundred and nineteen years before. 



202 



LXVII. TWO PRETENDERS. 

HENRY VII., who was crowned King of England on 
Bosworth battlefield, was the first of the Tudor kings. 
He belonged to the house of Lancaster ; and as he soon 
married Princess Elizabeth, daughter of Edward IV., of the 




Mather Brown, Arti 



Marriage of Henry VII. 



house of York, both parties were well pleased. But, fear- 
ing that the Earl of Warwick, Clarence's son, might claim 
the throne, Henry kept him a close prisoner in the Tower. 
The new king was rather afraid of the few noblemen 
who had survived the Wars of the Roses, so he tried to 
restrict their power as much as he could. Knowing very- 
well also that he had not the best right to the throne, and 



203 

could keep it only as long as the people wished, he allowed 
Parliament more freedom than it had enjoyed under the 
preceding reign. 

Henry was very fond of money, and as he fancied it 
would give him power, he tried to get all he could. With 
this end in view he encouraged commerce, and thus did 
much good to the whole country. His reign, however, 
was disturbed by two plots formed to drive him from the 
throne. 

First, a priest named Simon trained a baker's son to 
make believe he was the Earl of Warwick. Now the Irish 
people had been very fond of Clarence, so they received 
this lad, Lambert Sim'nel, with joy, and proclaimed him 
king. But when Henry heard that a false Earl of Warwick 
was claiming the throne, he brought the real one out of 
the Tower and showed him to the people. In spite of 
this, the Irish still clung to Simnel, and, collecting an army, 
came over to England to place him on the throne. 

Henry met and defeated the invaders at Stoke. There 
priest and pretender were both made captives. They were 
tried, and as Simon was found guilty of fraud, he was sent 
to prison for life. But, seeing that Simnel was not very 
intelligent, and had been forced to play his part, the king 
forgave him and made him a servant in the royal kitchen. 

One of Simnel's stanch adherents, Lord Lov'el, is said 
to have ridden away in haste from the battlefield. Noth- 
ing was heard of him for a long time, so it was generally 
supposed that he had been drowned in trying to cross the 
Trent River. But more than one hundred years after the 
battle, some workmen, pulling down one of his massive 
stone houses, discovered there a secret chamber. In it 



204 

they found the skeleton of a man seated on a chair, his 
head resting on a table, and near him stood an empty 
barrel and jar. Hence it has been thought that Lord 
Lovel, having escaped pursuit, hid himself in this retreat, 
where he probably starved to death. 

The other plot which disturbed Henry's reign proved 
more serious. A rumour suddenly arose that little Richard 
of York had not been murdered in the Tower, as was 
popularly supposed, but that he had escaped to France, 
and was living there under the name of Perkin War'beck. 

Many people believed this story ; and when Perkin War- 
beck, who was really the son of a merchant, was brought 
before the Duchess of Burgundy, she declared he was her 
long-lost nephew, and joyfully prepared to help him win 
the crown. Helped by the Duchess of Burgundy, the 
King of the Scots, and by several English noblemen who 
thought he was the real Duke of York, Perkin Warbeck 
invaded England, but was soon forced to retreat. 

His friends then planned a second invasion from Ire- 
land ; but when Perkin landed in England, he was taken 
captive and put into the Tower, while his wife, a beautiful 
Scotch lady, became an attendant of the queen. It is 
likely that no further steps would have been taken against 
Perkin Warbeck, had he not made plans to escape with 
the Earl of Warwick. But this plot being discovered, 
both captives were condemned to death. The Earl of 
Warwick, being a nobleman, was beheaded on Tower 
Hill, but Perkin Warbeck was hanged like a common 
criminal at Tvburn. 



205 



LXVIII. A GRASPING KING. 

HENRY VII., as you have seen, was rather a clever 
ruler, but he was so fond of money that he did many 
wrong things to secure it. For instance, he said that when 
people were not satisfied with the decision of the ordinary 
judges, they could come before a special court, held at 
Westminster, in a room where the ceiling was painted blue 
and decorated with gold stars. This tribunal was hence 
called the Star Chamber; and as people could sometimes 
bribe the judges, and thus get the verdict they wanted, 
it came to be regarded as a very disgraceful institution. 

Two lawyers, Empson and Dudley, helped the king to 
get a great deal of money, and they made use of such 
dishonest means that their names are still used to designate 
bad men. Thus, by heavy taxes, and by asking for gifts 
from rich and poor, Henry contrived to save several mil- 
lions, besides building for his own tomb the chapel which 
still bears his name in Westminster Abbey. 

During his reign many great discoveries were made. 
Christopher Columbus, sailing across the Atlantic Ocean, 
opened the way for new and profitable trading. Henry 
VII., wishing to enrich himself, built a large ship, the 
Great Harry, and he too sent out expeditions. One of 
his captains was Cab'ot, who discovered New'found-land 
and the coast of the North American continent. 

Henry VII. also tried to increase the wealth of his family 
by having his eldest son, Prince Arthur, marry Catherine 
of Ar'a-gon, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella of 
Spain. But soon after the marriage Prince Arthur died. 



206 



Rather than give up the dowry of the princess, Henry 
VII. now engaged her to his second son, Henry, although 
the latter was several years younger than his future wife. 

Before dying, this money-saving king bargained that 
two thousand masses should be said for the rest of his soul, 
but should cost only sixpence apiece. Henry VII. was 
buried in Westminster Abbey, and his tomb is an exam- 
ple of a new style of building, first seen in his reign, and 
generally called the Tudor architecture. 

Henry VII. was so severe, miserly, and unjust that his 
subjects gladly welcomed his successor, Henry VIII. The 
new king was eighteen, and as he was handsome, affable, 
well educated, and clever, many fancied he would make a 
very good ruler. But, as you will soon see, Henry was 
violent-tempered, wilful, conceited, and so fond of display 
that he soon spent all the money his father had saved. 

In the very beginning of his reign he had his father's 
two wicked lawyers tried and sentenced to death, to show 
the people that he did not approve of their conduct. Then 
he pleased the people by marrying Catherine of Aragpn, 
to whom he had been betrothed, by giving magnificent 
coronation festivals, and by holding gay tournaments in 
which he delighted in taking part himself. 

He was so anxious to show what a great warrior he was, 
that although England was then at peace with France and 
Scotland, he stirred up war with them both. Then, cross- 
ing over to France, he easily routed the French at Guine- 
gate (geen-gaht'), for their cavalry fled at the approach 
of the English. Because the enemy made more use of 
their spurs than of their swords, this encounter is known 
in history as the " Battle of the Spurs." 



207 

While Henry was winning this mock battle in France, 
his general, Lord Surrey, won a grand victory over the 
Scotch at Flod'den Field, where the beloved Scotch king 
James IV. fell, with ten thousand of his braye subjects. 

These two battles ended the war, and peace was made 
with France, the king giving his own sister in marriage to 
the French monarch. But Louis XII. of France died soon 
after this wedding, so his widow was married to one of 
the king's friends. 

LXIX. THE FIELD OF THE CLOTH OF GOLD. 

HENRY VIII. was only twenty-four when the French 
king died, leaving his throne to his nearest male rela- 
tive, Francis I. At that time Spain and Holland were both 
ruled by Charles V. ; and as he too was young and clever, 
like the kings of England and France, there was great 
rivalry among the three rulers. When the Emperor of 
Germany died, the crown, being elective, was sought for 
by Henry, Francis, and Charles. 

When the French king heard that Charles was elected, 
he felt angry and afraid, because his hated rival now oc- 
cupied the land all around him. He therefore thought it 
would be a very good plan to make a friend of Henry, 
who could help him in case of war with Charles. So 
Francis invited Henry to come over to France and meet 
him near Calais, where they could enjoy a talk and indulge 
in games of skill, of which they were equally fond. 

Henry gladly accepted this invitation, and got ready to 
go to France. But Charles, hearing of this plan, secretly 



208 



crossed over to England, so as to see Henry first. His 
aim was to make himself so agreeable that Henry would 
not care to become the French king's ally. Charles won 
Henry's favour by calling him uncle, and secretly prom- 
ised the king's minister, Wolsey (wdol'zi), to help him be- 
come pope as soon as the present pope died. 

Now you must know that Wolsey was a very ambitious 
man. Although only the son of a poor butcher, he had 
worked very hard to get a college education. Next he 
became a priest, and was so clever that Henry VII. en- 
gaged him as tutor for his children. 

Little by little Wolsey won the king's confidence ; and 
as he always did what he was told, and did it well and 
promptly, he soon rose in rank. Henry VIII. found him 
very useful, and as Wolsey flattered the young king, the 
latter liked him and made him Chancellor of State. Proud 
and even stern with every one else, Wolsey was always 
gentle and humble with the king, in whose name he really 
governed, although he pretended to be only a servant. 

Henry was so generous that he is said to have given 
large estates to a lady who made him a good pudding, and 
to a gentleman who pushed his chair away from a too hot 
fire. You can understand from that how richly he would 
reward such a man as Wolsey, who soon lived almost as 
magnificently as the king, and owned the two palaces of 
Whitehall and Hampton Court. 

Besides being chancellor, Wolsey was Archbishop of 
York and cardinal, and when the emperor promised to help 
him become pope in due time, he was greatly pleased. The 
visit over, Charles went home, while Henry and all his court 
went to France to see Francis I. 




Henry VIII. and Cardinal Wolsey. 



(209) 



2IO 



Great preparations had been made near Calais for the 
reception of both courts. We are told that the camp was 
composed of nearly three thousand tents of silk and bro- 
cade, all decked with gorgeous banners. Both kings were 
fond of display, so there was seen a rare array of jewels, 
clothes, armour, horses, etc. In fact, there was such a 
glitter that the place was called the Field of the Cloth of 
Gold, and shows and diversions of all kinds were the order 
of the day. But while the kings and queens exchanged 
visits and viewed the gay tournaments, their ministers dis- 
cussed matters of state. Every day the round of gaiety 
was more splendid than before. 

Weary of the constant ceremonial, King Francis rode into 
the English camp alone one morning, and, entering Henry's 
tent, roused him from his morning slumbers by playfully 
crying, "You are my prisoner ; behold your chains!" In 
saying these words, Francis took off his beautiful golden 
chain and put it around Henry's neck. 

The English king then returned the compliment by 
giving Francis a costly bracelet ; and when Henry rose, 
the French king helped him dress. The ice being thus 
broken, the kings freely rode in and out of each other's 
camp, and we are told they once enjoyed a wrestling bout 
together. But Henry's vanity was sorely tried when 
Francis threw him, and he did not feel comfortable until 
he had outshone his rival in archery. 

When the gay doings on the Field of the Cloth of Gold 
ended, the kings parted and went home, without any de- 
cided alliance having been made. But shortly after this, 
Henry had a second interview with Charles, and became 
his ally. 



21 I 



LXX. THE NEW OPINIONS. 

IN those days all Europe was in a state of excitement. 
The Reformation, begun so long before by Wyclif, had 
been steadily gaining ground ; and although Wyclif s dis- 
ciples, the Lollards, were sorely persecuted, their teachings 
had won converts in many parts of Europe. 

Besides, the discovery of printing had brought into 
common use many books which had hitherto been in the 
hands of only a few learned men. The result was that 
people began to read more, and to form different opinions 
on all matters, especially on religion. These differences led 
sometimes to very serious disputes. 

There was a man in Germany, Martin Luther, who had 
once been a monk, but who was now an ardent reformer; 
that is, he disagreed with the teachings of the Roman 
Catholic Church, and wrote in defence of his opinions. 

This bold preaching by Martin Luther made a great stir 
in Germany, and while some of his hearers agreed with 
him, others thought he ought to be burned as a heretic, 
or man with wrong opinions. Among those who did not 
approve of Luther was Henry VIII. of England, who, 
after reading the reformer's book, wrote a treatise to show 
that he was wrong. 

Priding himself upon his cleverness, Henry sent a copy 
of his work to the pope, who was so pleased with it that 
he bestowed upon the English monarch the name of 
"Defender of the Faith." This title is still borne by 
British sovereigns, and you can see it stamped on English 
coins to-day. 

STO. OF ENG. — 14 



212 



But although Henry thought it so very wicked of 
Luther not to obey the pope, you will soon see that he 
did not always do so himself. Henry had, as you remem- 
ber, married his brother's widow, Catherine of Aragon. 
They had many children, but all died in infancy, except a 
sickly little girl named Mary. 

As no woman had ever yet really reigned in England, 
Henry was afraid that if he died the crown would pass 
out of his family. He longed to have a son, was tired of 
Catherine, now that she was old, and wished he could 
marry one of her pretty waiting women, Anne Boleyn 
(bdbrin), with whom he had fallen in love. 

To get rid of Catherine, Henry first said he was sure 
God was displeased with him, because all his baby boys 
had died. Next he said that God must be angry because 
he had married his brother's widow, a marriage which the 
Catholic Church seldom allows. 

When he had thus paved the way, Henry bade Wolsey 
send to Rome and ask the pope for a divorce. Wolsey 
obeyed, but although he tried very hard, he could not get 
the divorce. The fact was that the pope did not know 
what to do. He knew that the reformers were growing 
in numbers, and feared that if he refused, Henry VIII. 
would join their ranks. But if he granted the divorce 
he knew it would offend Queen Catherine's nephew, the 
Emperor Charles, who was master of all Italy, and who 
kept the pope almost a prisoner in Rome. 

In spite of all Henry's urgings, therefore, the pope 
would not give a decided answer ; but after a year of 
wavering, he sent his legate to talk over the matter with 
Wolsey. Now there was more delay, for the legate tried 




Henry VIII. and Ann 



e Boleyn. 



(213) 



214 

to make Henry give up the divorce, while Wolsey tried to 
persuade Queen Catherine to withdraw into a nunnery. 
Neither would consent, and the king, angry at these delays, 
began to hate his former friend Wolsey. One day he 
asked the chancellor for the state accounts. By mistake, 
Wolsey brought the king his own private account book. 
Henry opened it, and, finding that the chancellor was far 
richer than he had ever supposed, grew jealous of his sub- 
ject's wealth, and made up his mind to take back his pres- 
ents. Wolsey was therefore forced to give up his two 
palaces, which became the property of the king, and to go 
and live at York. 

LXXI. DEATH OF WOLSEY. 

ALTHOUGH sent away from court in disgrace, Wolsey 
y\ led so gay a life at York, and made such a display, 
that he won many admirers. This made Henry more 
jealous than ever, and as he needed more money, he sud- 
denly sent officers to arrest his former favourite and bring 
him to the Tower. 

This arrest broke Wolsey's heart, and as they journeyed 
on to London he became so ill that they had to stop at 
Leicester Abbey and lift him off his mule. Wolsey was 
by this time so feeble that he said to the abbot who came 
to greet him : " My father, I am come to lay my bones 
among you." 

He was right ; for, instead of getting better, he steadily 
sank, and died a few days later. His last words were : 
" Had I only served my God as diligently as I have served 



215 

my king, he would not have left me alone in my gray 
hairs." You see, at the very end, Wolsey regretted that 
he had not always done what was right, regardless of the 
wishes of an ungrateful king. 

All Wolsey's treasures fell, at his death, into the hands 
of the king, and the beautiful jewels he had collected be- 
came the ornaments of Anne Boleyn, who was the real 
cause of his sudden downfall. 

In the meantime the king, who had not given up the 
idea of divorcing Catherine, overheard two of his officers 
discussing the matter with a clever young Oxford doctor 
named Thomas Cran'mer. This young man, who belonged 
to the Oxford reformers, frankly said that if he were in 
the king's place he would not wait for the pope's decision, 
but would ask the universities what they thought about it. 

The eavesdropping king was so delighted with this sug- 
gestion that he hired Cranmer to write a book in favour of 
the divorce, gave him more and more of his confidence, 
and finally made him Archbishop of Canterbury. As spon 
as he became Primate of England, Cranmer declared that 
the king's marriage was against the law, that he had the 
right to take another wife, and that Princess Mary had no 
claim to the crown. 

A few days after this, Henry, who had made a great 
pretence of being very sorry to part with Catherine, 
had Anne Boleyn crowned as his queen. But when the 
news of his divorce reached Rome the pope was very angry. 
He said that Cranmer had no right to decide the question, 
and that Catherine was still Henry's wife. 

The pope's refusal to agree to the divorce made Henry so 
furious that he now called Parliament together, and made 



216 



it declare that he was head of the church within his 
kingdom, as well as head of the kingdom itself. Henry 
also asked all his subjects to sign a paper to this effect, or 
take the oath of supremacy, as it was called. 

Now, good Roman Catholics consider the pope head of 
the church, so some of them refused to sign the paper or 
take the oath. Among these were two great and good 
men, Fisher, the Bishop of Roch'es-ter, and Sir Thomas 
More, who had been named chancellor after Wolsey. 

Besides being a good and noble man, Sir Thomas More 
was a man of genius. He had read the letters of A-mer r - 




J. R. Herbert, Art 



Sir Thomas More in Prison. 



i-cus Ves-pu'cius as soon as they were printed, and had 
put his ideas about politics into a little story. In this 
book, he said that one of the companions of Vespucius had 



217 

gone to the New World, where he had founded an ideal 
state called " U-to'pi-a " (Nowhere). Here all the people 
were equal, all were well educated, all were happy and 
healthy and good, and all had the right to worship God as 
they pleased. 

The people of his time thought this story so absurd that 
Utopia was used — and is still — as we now use the word 
" fairyland." But since then a republic has been founded 
in the New World, where, as you know, people have the 
right to practise any religion they please, and we hope 
that some day it may become a real Utopia. 

As Sir Thomas More and Fisher would not say that 
they accepted Henry as the head of the church, they were 
accused of treason, locked up in the Tower, tried, con- 
victed, and sentenced to death. More was allowed a last 
parting with his favourite child, Margaret, who, after he 
had suffered death with great courage, bore away his re- 
mains to bury them. 

LXXII. HENRY'S WIVES. 

ALTHOUGH Henry had won his new wife with so much 
J~\ trouble, he was not long pleased with her. She was 
very beautiful, but two years after their marriage, and 
some time after the birth of her daughter Elizabeth, she 
was accused of a crime and sent to the Tower. Some writ- 
ers say that Anne Boleyn was quite innocent, but that the 
king was tired of her and wished to marry another wife. 
Others insist that she was guilty, and deserved the death 
to which she was soon condemned. 



218 



However that may be, the fact remains that Anne Boleyn 
was led off to the block. She never complained about the 
king's cruelty, but merely said, with a sad smile, that she 
would soon be out of pain, for she had a very small neck. 
As soon as Anne had been beheaded, Parliament decreed 
that her daughter Elizabeth should not reign, just as it 
had already decreed with regard to Mary. 

The very day after Anne Boleyn's death, the unfeeling 
king married a beautiful English girl, Jane Seymour (see'- 
moor). The new queen was gentle and good, and, happily 
for her, died before her fickle husband could get tired of 
her too. She left a little son named Edward, and the 
people were so glad to hear there was a male heir at last, 
that they celebrated his birthday with great rejoicings. 

Ever since Wolsey's fall from power, the king had been 
helped by a man named Crom'well, who now held high 
office. Seeing that Henry was anxious to marry again, 
Cromwell suggested that he should choose some princess. 

But none of the European princesses wanted to marry 
a king who had already had three wives, one of whom had 
been beheaded and another divorced. Indeed, one of the 
ladies who was asked to share his throne, refused, saying, 
" I have but one head; if I had two, one would be at his 
majesty's disposal." 

As Cromwell was a reformer, he wished his master to 
marry a Protestant, and showed him the portrait of Anne 
of Cleves. Henry was so pleased with the lady's appearance 
that he sent for her to come and marry him. But when 
he saw her, and found out that her portrait had flattered 
her, he was very angry, and was rude enough to mutter, 
" I don't want to marry that Flanders mare!" 



219 

To avoid quarrelling with the lady's relatives, however, 
he did marry her; but as she was stupid, and could speak 
only Dutch, he soon decided to divorce her. First, he 
vented his displeasure by beheading Cromwell. Then he 
had Parliament declare his divorce from Anne of Cleves, 
who received a palace and a handsome income, and lived 
very comfortably all by herself. 

A fortnight later Henry VIII. married a fifth wife, 
Catherine Howard. But when he discovered that she was 
a wicked woman, he promptly had her beheaded, and 
married Catherine Parr, a widow, who had the good for- 
tune to survive him. 

Ever since Henry had been named head of the church 
he thought that he knew all there was to know about 
religion. Whenever he argued about it, he was very angry 
if any one disagreed with him. He was so self-willed that 
if people had different opinions from his they were perse- 
cuted. Roman Catholics were put to death for considering 
the pope head of the church, and Protestants were treated 
in the same way if they did not accept certain Catholic 
doctrines which Henry still believed. 

During his long reign Henry's opinions underwent sun- 
dry changes. For instance, he first ordered that an Eng- 
lish Bible should be placed in every church, where people 
could come and read it for themselves if they chose. But 
when he found out that those who read the Bible often 
formed opinions different from his own, he decided that 
the books should be removed, and that none but learned 
men should have the right to see them. 

Besides squandering his father's savings and Wolsey's 
property, Henry spent all the money he received as head 



220 



of the church. He also sent men to examine all the 
churches and religious houses, and closed many of the 
latter, because, he said, the monks had grown rich and lazy 
and were not doing the good work they should among 
the poor. The only person who never felt Henry's anger 
was Cranmer, who, however, often disagreed with him. 
But Cranmer generally did as the king wished him to, and 
some say that whenever Henry wanted to do anything 
specially wrong he sent the archbishop away for a time, 
so that he should not try to oppose it. 

It was owing to Cranmer that English came to be used 
in the services of the church. This marked him as a 
leader among those who favoured Protestant ideas. Both 
Cranmer and Wolsey were, like Henry, very fond of books, 
and encouraged learning as much as possible. 



:£@<< 



LXXIII. THE KING AND THE PAINTER. 

HENRY VIII. was so fond of interviews that he once 
arranged one with James V. of Scotland. But either 
the Scots were afraid their king would be made a prisoner, 
or the Scotch king wished to please the Catholics. Any- 
way, Henry vainly waited for his fellow-monarch, and 
when he saw that James was not coming, he declared 
war against Scotland. 

The troops of James V. were defeated at Solway Moss, 
and he felt so badly over the loss of his followers that he 
soon after died of grief, leaving the crown to his little 
daughter Mary, who became Queen of Scotland. Henry 



221 



now proposed a marriage between this queen and his son 
Edward, which would unite the Scotch and English crowns. 
The nobles at first consented t to it, but it never took place. 

Besides the French war mentioned in the beginning of 
Henry's reign, there was a second, in which the English 
won Boulogne (boo-lon'), which, however, they promised 
to give back to France at the end of seven years. 

As Henry waxed older he grew very stout, suffered a 
great deal from illness, and became so violent in temper 
that every one was afraid of him. We are told that even 
Parliament dared not disobey him, for he once said to 
one of the members : " Get my bill passed to-morrow, 
or else to-morrow this head of yours shall be off." 

The queen once incurred his wrath simply because she 
differed from him in a religious argument. But when she 
found out that the king was going to have her tried for 
heresy, she disarmed his anger by saying that she loved 
to hear him argue because he was so clever. 

Henry not only encouraged learning, but he was also 
very fond of painting, and engaged the German artist Hol'- 
bein to paint his portrait. He had great respect for men 
of talent, and when a courtier once complained that Holbein 
had insulted him by sending him out of the studio, into 
which he had forced his way, the king answered: 

" It is I, in the person of Holbein, who have been in- 
sulted. I can, when I please, make seven lords of seven 
ploughmen ; but I cannot make one Holbein even of seven 
lords." 

Besides learning, Henry also encouraged commerce, 
which, under him, became very flourishing. But there was 
a new kind of trade begun in his reign which was not to 



222 



his credit. This was slave trading, and it was many years 
before that wicked traffic came to an end. 

Henry reigned thirty-eight years, and when his people 
saw that he was dying, they did not dare tell him so, lest 
they should be accused of high treason and put to death. 
Finally, however, a very old man plucked up courage 
enough to inform the king that he was nearing his end. 

Instead of flying into a rage as every one expected, 
Henry took the news very calmly. He said that his son 
Edward should succeed him, and as the lad was delicate, 
he arranged that if the prince died without leaving any 
children, the crown should go to Mary, and after her to 
Elizabeth, and after them to his youngest sister, the 
Duchess of Suffolk. When all his arrangements had been 
made, Henry died ; and all breathed a sigh of relief at the 
thought that the tyrannical ruler could frighten them no 
more. 

LXX1V. A BOY KING. 

EDWARD VI. was only nine years old when he was 
crowned King of England. His father, Henry VIII., 
had decided that until he was old enough to reign alone, 
the government should be in the hands of Cranmer and a 
council. But as soon as the king was dead, the Duke 
of Somerset was named Protector of England. 

The little king was a gentle, lovable, and studious child. 
He had been brought up in the new religious ideas, and 
liked nothing better than to study theology or to listen 
to long sermons. As he was very delicate and needed a 



223 

great deal of fresh air, his favourite preacher, the reformer 
Lat'i-mer, had a pulpit placed out in the garden under a 
tree', so that Edward could enjoy sermons out of doors. 

All the little king's teachers were Protestants, and they 
said he was a remarkably studious lad. They must have 
been right ; for some of his Latin exercises have been 
kept, and they are unusually good for a boy of his age. 

Although Cranmer was not allowed to govern, he was 
given authority to make any changes he thought desirable 
in the religion of the country. He therefore, in accord- 
ance with his Protestant ideas, stopped all Latin services, 
and arranged a Book of Common Prayer, almost the same 
as that still in use to-day in the Church of England and 
in the Episcopal Church in America. 

Although the king was so kind that he hated to pain 
any one, and shed tears whenever he was forced to sign a 
death-warrant, he became very angry with his sister Mary, 
because she would not change her religion. He forbade 
her to hear mass in public. But in spite of all he said, 
Mary continued firm and would never consent to listen to 
any of his favourite sermons. 

While King Edward VI. was busy with his books and 
studies, the Duke of Somerset governed the kingdom ; 
and as he was a zealous Protestant, he took the pictures 
and statues out of the churches, closed up many monas- 
teries and convents, and told the monks and nuns to go 
out into the world and earn their living. The money he 
took from the religious houses was used to found schools 
and hospitals, or given to new lords. 

Most of the monks and nuns had been so good to the 
poor people near them, that the latter grumbled sorely 



224 

when they saw these holy men and women in need. Twice 
during Edward's short reign the peasants revolted, and 
twice they had to be put down by force. 

But in spite of this resistance, the Protestant movement 
went on; and while under Henry VIII. the people had 
practised the Catholic religion, without a pope, they now 
had a distinctly Protestant form of worship. All had to 
worship as the king wished, or suffer punishment. Two 
important persons refused to obey ; but while one of them, 
Bishop Gardiner (gard'ner), was imprisoned, the other, the 
king's sister, was allowed to hear mass in her own room. 

The Duke of Somerset soon thought it time that the 
marriage between the young king and Mary, Queen of 
Scots, should take place. But as most of the Scotch were 
still good Catholics, they did not want their sovereign to 
marry a Protestant. Somerset decided to force them to 
obey ; and, using the pretext that some of the border men 
had fought against the English, he invaded Scotland. 

The English army marched almost to Edinburgh (ed'in- 
bur-ro), where it met a very large Scotch force. Somer- 
set, frightened, offered peace; but the Scotchmen felt so 
sure of victory that they would not accept it. To their sur- 
prise, they were completely beaten, at Pinkie, and lost ten 
thousand men, while the English lost only three hundred. 

Among the prisoners taken during the fight was a Scotch 
nobleman. Somerset asked him why he objected to the 
match between the English king and the Scotch queen, 
and he answered quickly : " I dislike not the match, but I 
hate the manner of the wooing." 

Trouble having arisen in England, Somerset made peace 
with Scotland. But the little queen was sent over to 



225 

France, so as to be out of reach of the English, and to be 
brought up in a Roman Catholic country. In time she 
became Queen of France, for she married Francis II. 

On coming back to England, Somerset discovered that 
his own brother had been plotting against him. Influenced 
by the bad advice of a son of the lawyer Dudley (who 
before long was made Duke of Nor-thum'ber-land), Som- 
erset accused his brother of treason, and had him arrested, 
tried, condemned, and executed. Soon after this, Nor- 
thumberland, taking advantage of the discontent among 
the poor, who were grumbling because the protector was 
building a new palace, accused Somerset of high treason. 
It was he who was now arrested, tried, sentenced, and 
executed, just as his brother had been. 

Edward was only thirteen at the time, so the power 
was placed in the hands of Northumberland. The latter 
soon noticed that the king would probably not live long, 
and he became anxious that the crown should pass into 
his own family. With this purpose in view, he told the 
little king that he ought to make a will. 

You know that Parliament had decreed, during the 
reign of Henry, that neither Mary nor Elizabeth should 
reign ; but later on the same body had said that Henry 
could leave the throne to any one he wished. Henry 
had therefore said that the crown should pass in turn to 
Edward, Mary, Elizabeth, and then to the Suffolks if all 
his children died childless. To induce Edward to make 
a will, Northumberland said that if Mary became queen 
the Catholic religion would again be introduced. He added 
that if Mary were set aside Elizabeth must be also, 
although she was a Protestant, and coaxed Edward to 



226 



make a will in favour of Lady Jane Grey, one of the Suf- 
folks, who had married Northumberland's son Dudley. 

Edward VI., who was failing fast, yielded to these en- 
treaties, and made a will which was witnessed by Cranmer. 
Shortly after that, the doctors having vainly tried to cure 
him, Northumberland placed him under the care of an 
ignorant old woman, who vowed she could make him well. 
But instead of gaining strength, Edward soon died, pray- 
ing that the reformed religion might continue in England, 
Some people believe that he was the victim of consump- 
tion ; but others, who hated Northumberland, began to 
whisper that the latter had poisoned the prince, so that 
Dudley might reign. 

LXXV. THE STORY OF LADY JANE GREY. 

WHEN Edward VI. breathed his last, Northumber- 
land tried to keep his death a secret until he could 
get possession of Mary and Elizabeth. He wanted to put 
them in prison, to prevent their opposing the coronation 
of his daughter-in-law, Lady Jane Grey. But the news 
reached Mary while she was on her way to visit her sick 
brother. She took refuge in a castle near the seashore, and 
merely sent an order to Parliament to proclaim her queen. 
Northumberland, seeing he could not get the princesses 
into his power, now went to Lady Jane Grey with several 
members of the council, and did homage to her as queen. 
Lady Jane Grey, who was a most charming young lady of 
sixteen, was greatly surprised when she heard what he 
had to tell her, and gently answered that the crown ought 



22*] 



to go to her cousin Mary, to Elizabeth, or even to Mary, 
Queen of Scots, before it could be hers. But her father- 
in-law insisted that she must be queen ; and as voting peo- 
ple in those days were taught to obey implicitly, and even 
middle-aged sons and daughters had to be as submissive 




C. R. Leslie, Artist. 



Offering the Crown to Lady Jane Grey. 



as little children, she dared not resist. She was therefore 
forced to leave her quiet home, where her chief pleasure 
had been study, and go and dwell in the gloomy Tower. 

She was led thither in state ; but no one cheered as she 
passed by, for all knew that she had no right to the throne, 
and that Mary was the real queen. People were not very 
joyful, however, at the prospect of Mary's rule, for she was 
homely, sickly, and not very well educated, and the Prot- 
estants feared she would restore the Catholic religion. 

STO. OF ENG. — 15 



228 



Still, they would not oppose her, and Northumberland 
could secure only a very small army to uphold Lady Jane 
Grey. As soon as he had left London with it, the council 
went to Lady Jane Grey and persuaded her to return home, 
after a reign of ten days. You may be sure she was glad 
to give up the crown, which she had never wanted, and 
to return to her quiet house and her beloved books. 

Meantime Northumberland's friends had nearly all de- 
serted him, and he had soon fallen into Mary's hands. 
In spite of his humble entreaties to be spared, she sent 
him to prison and had him executed for high treason. 
Then, upon reaching London, she ordered that all the im- 
prisoned Roman Catholics should be set free, and took 
Gardiner for her adviser. Mary opened her first Parlia- 
ment with public mass, and sent a messenger to Rome to ask 
the pope to forgive the English for having said he was not 
head of the church. Then she forbade all the clergymen to 
preach until they had received a license from her. This 
permission was granted only to those who were willing to 
recognize the pope and be good Roman Catholics. 

Many reformers were next whipped, fined, or impris- 
oned, and, knowing that Mary would soon do worse, some 
of them left the country. Latin services were once more 
heard in the churches, where pictures and statues again 
found a place, and many of the monasteries were given 
back to their holy inmates. 

But while Mary was making these changes, she was 
haunted by the thought that if she died without children 
her sister Elizabeth would become queen and undo all her 
work. For that reason she took a Roman Catholic hus- 
band, Philip, the son of Charles V., King of Spain. 



229 

This marriage was allowed by Parliament, but only on 
condition that Philip should have no share in the govern- 
ment, and that if his wife died before him, and they had 
no children, the crown should go to Elizabeth. This made 
Philip dislike both the English and his homely wife. 

Although Parliament consented to Mary's marriage, 
many of the English opposed it, for they had heard how 
cruelly Philip treated all Protestants in his lands. Some 
of the most indignant even rebelled and marched up to 
London, under the leadership of a man named Wy'att. 
Their intention was to dethrone Mary and give the crown 
to Lady Jane Grey ; but they were defeated, and Wyatt 
and several others were executed. 

To prevent any more plots of the same kind, Lady Jane 
Grey and her husband were sent to the Tower and sen- 
tenced to death for high treason. Dudley, who was as 
noble as his wife, begged that they might see each other 
once more before dying; but Lady Jane Grey said that 
an interview would only rob them of some of the courage 
necessary to meet their fate. She nevertheless sent him 
a last message, saying, " Our separation will be only for 
a moment, and we shall soon rejoin each other in a scene 
where our affections will be for ever united, and where 
nothing can have access to disturb our eternal happiness." 

Dudley was led away to the block first, and from her 
window Lady Jane Grey saw his body borne to the tomb. 
A moment later, the jailer came to summon her to die in 
her turn. She calmly followed him to the scaffold, told 
the people she deserved death because she had not refused 
the crown more firmly, and, breathing a last prayer, laid 
her head upon the block. 



230 



LXXVI. THE DEATH OF CRANMER. 

THE execution of Lady Jane Grey, and of those who 
were suspected of having sided with her, did not in- 
cline the people to love either Mary or Philip. The Eng- 
lish disliked Philip because his manners were very bad, be- 
cause he was so rude as to treat his wife with contempt, 
and because he urged her to persecute the reformers and 
make every one practise the Catholic religion. 

The pope had consented to forgive the English, at Mary's 
entreaty, and had sent his legate, Cardinal Pole, to Eng- 
land. This man was very good and gentle, and he advised 
Mary and Philip not to illtreat the Protestants ; but they 
would not listen to him. 

In those days it was still the custom for those in power 
to persecute all who held opinions different from their own. 
When the Protestants were in power they had persecuted 
all who did not believe as they did. So now the Catholics 
began to persecute the Protestants. All who upheld the 
Protestant religion were very unkindly treated, and about 
three hundred were burned at the stake as heretics. 

Among these were two good old preachers, Latimer and 
Ridley. They were hated by Mary's principal adviser, 
Gardiner, who was so anxious to have them die that he 
said, on the day of their execution, that he would not dine 
until he knew they were burned. As the two friends 
walked together to the place of torture, encouraging one 
another, Latimer said : " Be of good cheer, Brother Ridley ; 
we shall this day light such a candle, by God's grace, in 
England, as I trust shall never be put out." 



231' 

Latimer and Ridley were fastened to the stake, and 
some of their friends charitably tied packages of gunpowder 
around their waists, so that their tortures should not be 
too prolonged. But in spite of these precautions, the fire 
burned so slowly that the poor men suffered untold agonies. 
The cruel Gardiner was forced to delay his dinner four 
hours. But it is said he could not eat it then, for he was 
suddenly stricken by an illness from which he died. 

Another who suffered death was the aged Cranmer, 
whom Mary hated, partly because it was he who had di- 
vorced her mother and had witnessed Edward's will. He 
was accused of high treason and of heresy, and on the 
latter charge was sentenced to be burned alive. Cranmer 
was, on the whole, a good man, but he shrank from bodily 
suffering. So, when told he would be forgiven if he would 
sign a paper recognizing the pope and giving up the Prot- 
estant religion, he had not the courage to refuse. 

But Mary had no real intention of letting him go un- 
punished ; and when Cranmer learned this, he became de- 
fiant and refused to read this paper at the stake. The 
queen's officers vainly tried to prevent his speaking to the 
assembled people ; he cried aloud that he regretted his 
momentary weakness, and said that, as his right hand had 
offended by signing a lie, it should be burned first. 

Saying these words, Cranmer thrust his hand into the 
fire, and firmly held it there until it was burned off. His 
courageous behaviour in the midst of awful torture greatly 
impressed the people. In fact, all these cruel punishments, 
which earned for the queen among her enemies the harsh 
title of " Bloody Mary," had, as the pope's wise legate had 
foreseen, an effect just contrary to that which she had 



232 

hoped. Yet Mary thought she was doing right, for Philip 
urged her to be even more severe. She was always a 
very unhappy woman, for few people ever loved her. 
Her husband soon left her and went over to Flanders, 
where he did not even take the trouble to read the long 
letters she sent him. He was making war there, and 
needed a great deal of money ; so Mary, hoping to win 
his affections, sent him all she could. 

To supply him with funds, she loaded her people with 
taxes, and by his order she declared war against France. 
Parliament would not at first consent to this war; but 
Mary, it is said, got down on her knees to beseech the 
members to do as her husband wished. Then a force of 
ten thousand men was sent over to Philip, who won a vic- 
tory at St. Quentin (saN koN-taN'). 

This success was soon offset by a great loss. The 
French, beaten at St. Quentin, but knowing that Calais 
was poorly defended, surprised two of the forts that pro- 
tected it, and forced the city to surrender after a week's 
siege. It was thus that Calais, which had been taken by 
Edward III. after a ten months' siege, and had been in the 
hands of the English about two hundred years, became 
once more, in 1558, the property of the French. 

The news reached England on New Year's day, and 
filled the country with dismay. Mary bewailed the loss of 
''the brightest jewel in her crown," and said that "Calais" 
would be found graven upon her heart after she was dead. 

This loss, added to her other sorrows, so weakened her 
health that she died the same year. Few regretted her, 
and as she left no children, the crown passed on to her 
half-sister Elizabeth, the only living child of Henry VIII. 



233 



LXXVII. A CLEVER QUEEN. 

PARLIAMENT was sitting when Mary, Queen of 
England, breathed her last ; and when her death was 
announced, the members all sprang from their seats with 
shouts of joy, and cries of " God save Queen Elizabeth!" 
The news was received in the same way throughout the 
kingdom, and was no less welcome to the new queen, who 
had spent the last five years in captivity at Hatfield House. 

Elizabeth now came to London, where she was joyfully 
welcomed, and where one of her first acts was to order the 
release of all who were prisoners on account of their reli- 
gion. She selected Lord Burleigh (bur'ly), her brother's 
adviser, as her chief minister, and for the next forty years 
this able man ruled the country wisely. 

At Elizabeth's first Parliament the Protestants came to 
beg her to release four important prisoners; and when the 
queen asked their names, they answered that these cap- 
tives were Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, who were 
bound fast in the Latin language. Elizabeth smiled when 
they said this, but soon answered that she would first in- 
quire whether these prisoners wished to be set free. 

She therefore assembled a council to discuss religious 
matters ; and this council decided that it was best for the 
people to have prayers, hymns, and Scriptures in English. 
The Church of England, or An'gli-can Church, was there- 
fore again declared the church of the country, and nine 
thousand priests were given their choice — to adopt the 
Anglican services and recognize the queen as head of the 
church, or to give up their positions. Only two hundred 



234 




went away, and as their places were given to Protestants, 
the whole country was soon under the same teaching. 

Thus the change was gradually made, but so gently 
that not one drop of blood was shed or one estate confis- 
cated. As soon as this was known abroad, the exiled 
Protestants came flocking back. Some of them brought 
home from France and Germany what they called purer 
ideas of worship, so they were called Pu'ri-tans. 

Elizabeth was twenty-five when she came to the throne. 
She was rather good-looking, very clever and well edu- 
cated, generous, and forgiv- 
ing. But she had also three 
great failings : she was vain, 
untruthful, and of a violent 
temper. She showed her 
forgiving nature by not try- 
ing to avenge any of her past 
injuries. Even to a jailer 
who had been very unkind 
to her, she only remarked 
that he should have the 
keeping of any prisoner 
whom she wished treated 
with great severity. 
Elizabeth was extravagantly fond of dress and display, 
and her coronation was a splendid affair. The streets were 
hung with tapestry and strewn with flowers ; there were 
triumphal arches, shows, speeches, and presents without 
number; flags waved, bells rang, bonfires were lighted, and 
it seemed as if the whole nation had gone mad with joy. 
Elizabeth had been so well taught by her tutor Ascham 



■_ 




Queen Elizabeth. 



235 

(as'kam) that she was able to reign wisely. When she 
came to the throne the country was in debt, the money 
was bad, there was no good army or navy, and she saw 
that it would take time to make England what she wanted 
it to become — one of the foremost countries of the world. 
Helped by her clever ministers, Burleigh and Wal'sing- 
ham, Elizabeth began her reforms, and she went ahead so 
steadily that she soon saw great progress and in time 
reached her aim. By her order commerce and manufac- 
ture were encouraged, the army was properly drilled, and 
the navy was increased till she won the title of " Queen of 
the Northern Seas." 

LXXVIII. ELIZABETH'S LOVERS. 

IN spite of all her activity in state matters, Elizabeth's 
court was very brilliant and gay, and the people who 
gathered around her rivalled one another in the splendour 
of their garments, and in the fulsome compliments which 
they paid to the queen. Although so sensible when dis- 
cussing business matters with her ministers, Elizabeth was 
often very silly, and chose her courtiers more for their good 
looks or skill in flattering her than for other talents. 

She was at times very dignified, and made her courtiers 
address her only on bended knee; but at other moments 
her manners were very coarse. We are told that she used 
to swear very freely, slap her courtiers on the back, and 
box the ears of those who ventured to displease her. Her 
favourites were often changed ; but there was one among 
them, a brother-in-law of Lady Jane Grey, whom she made 



236 

Earl of Leicester and treated with such marked favour 
that every one fancied she loved him. 

Leicester himself thought that the queen would marry 
him, were he only free ; and some stories say that he killed 
his gentle wife, Amy Robsart, to whom he had secretly 
been united, so as to marry Elizabeth. But while the 
queen took great delight in being admired and made love 
to by many suitors, she never accepted any of them, and 
is hence known as the unmarried, virgin, or maiden queen. 

One of Elizabeth's first suitors was her sister's husband, 
Philip II., King of Spain. Although she never had the 
least intention of accepting him, she delayed giving him 
an answer as long as she could ; for she was afraid that 
if she refused Philip he would make war against England 
before her army and navy were in good condition. 

When she finally said no to him, she told him it was 
because she never meant to marry at all. But in spite of 
this decision, she afterwards allowed the Duke of Alencon 
(ah-loN-sawN') to court her for ten years. Finally a mar- 
riage contract was signed, but Elizabeth jilted this prince 
within a few weeks of the time fixed for her wedding. 

Although Elizabeth never gave any special reason for 
not accepting one of her many lovers, people have said 
that it was because she wanted to keep all the power in 
her own hands. But because she had no brothers or sis- 
ters left, it was very important that she should either marry 
and leave the crown to her children, or decide who should 
have it after her death. 

You remember, do you not, how angry the pope was when 
Henry VIII. divorced Queen Catherine, and how he said 
that she was still Henry's wife? Well, as soon as Eliza- 



237 



beth (Anne Boleyn's daughter) was crowned, the pope 
sent her a message saying that the crown did not really 
belong to her, but that if she would abide by his decision 
he would see whether she could be queen or not. 

Elizabeth paid no attention to this message, for she had 
decided to act like her father and refuse to obey the pope. 
As she did not do as he suggested, the pope now excom- 
municated her, and wrote to Mary Stu'art that he gave the 
crown of England to her, as she was the next heir. 

So Mary, Queen of Scot- 
land and France, took the title -^j jftjfc 
of Queen of England also; 
and she sent a French army 
to Scotland to join the Cath- 
olics there in making war 
against Elizabeth. But when 
the French reached Scotland 
they found that matters had 
changed very much since 
Marv had sfone to France. 
A great Protestant preacher 
named Knox had preached 
to the Scotch so persuasively 

that, instead of remaining Catholics, most of them had 
now become even stancher Protestants than the English. 

As the Scotch knew that Mary and the pope wanted to 
restore the Catholic religion, they not only refused to help 
her, but actually sided with Elizabeth and forced Mary to 
give up her attempt. Shortly after this, the young French 
king died, and his nineteen-year-old widow sadly left 
France to return to her native country. 




Mary Stuart. 



238 



LXXIX. MARY, QUEEN OF SCOTS. 

WHEN Mary reached Scotland, she was disgusted 
at the rude manners of the Scotchmen. She was 
beautiful and charming, loved dancing and music, dressed 
elegantly, and wished to have a gay court, such as she had 
seen in France. But the Scotch had become so strict that 
they looked upon dancing as a crime, and fancied that 
such a queen must be very wicked. 

The Scotch Protestants tried to make Mary change her 
religion, and Knox fiercely reproved her for her gaiety ; 
but she would not listen to him, and went on hearing mass, 
saying that her people might worship as they chose, pro- 
vided they let her do the same. As Mary had no children, 
the Scotchmen soon urged her to marry again ; and she, 
hoping to make Elizabeth her friend, begged the Queen 
of England to find, her a suitable husband. 

Elizabeth, who was jealous of Mary because the latter 
was younger and prettier than she, now proposed several 
husbands whom she knew Mary would not accept. Among 
these was her favourite Leicester, who, despairing of ever 
winning her, was willing to marry Mary. 

But. she would not accept him, and finally chose her 
cousin, Lord Darnley, a Roman Catholic and the next heir 
to the thrones both of England and of Scotland. 

This marriage displeased the Protestants and Elizabeth, 
and Darnley proved so fickle and bad-tempered that 
Mary soon ceased to find pleasure in his company. To 
amuse herself she used to spend hours in her own room, 
with he r ladies and her secretary Rizzio (rit'se-o), a gal- 




Mary Stuart and Rizzio. 



(239) 



240 

lant young musician who pleased her by accompanying 
her gay French songs on his lute. 

Before very long Darnley became so jealous of Rizzio 
that he burst into his wife's rooms one day, accompanied 
by several nobles. There Rizzio was murdered, in spite 
of all her entreaties. This crime so angered Mary that 
we are told she soon dried her eyes, muttering, " No 
more tears; let's think of revenge." 

But although she now hated Darnley, she pretended to 
be on good terms with him ; and once, when he was ill 
with smallpox, and could not stay in Holyrood Palace lest 
he should give the disease to their little son James, she 
went to nurse him in a cottage. One day, when he was 
nearly well, the queen went back to the palace, to see the 
wedding of one of her servants. That same night, while 
Mary slept at Holyrood, the Edinburgh people were awak- 
ened by a terrific explosion. They ran outdoors, and soon 
found out that Darnley's cottage had been blown up with 
gunpowder, and that he and his servant were dead. 

It was, of course, perfectly clear that Darnley had been 
murdered, and the people began to mutter that the crime 
had been committed by the Earl of Both'well. As he 
had been a favourite of the queen, some of them added 
that Mary had had a share in contriving the murder. 

But when the case was tried, a few days later, and Both- 
well came riding into the city with a large body-guard of 
hired soldiers, no one dared accuse him openly, and he 
was acquitted. Shortly after, he suddenly appeared with 
a thousand men and carried off the queen to the Castle of 
Dunbar. There he kept her a prisoner until she consented 
to marry him, three months later. 



241 



LXXX. CAPTIVITY OF MARY STUART. 

NOW, you must know that the story of Mary Stuart is 
perplexing. Some people say she was a very good 
but a very unfortunate woman, while others say that she 
was very wicked. The reformers thought she was so bad 
that she had killed Darnley so as to marry Bothwell, and 
they indignantly rose up against her. 

Mur'ray, one of her relatives, headed the rebels, defeated 
her troops, and took her prisoner. Bothwell, however, 
managed to escape, and, knowing it would never be safe 
for him to come back to Scotland, he went to the Orkney 
Islands. There he became a pirate ; but after some years 
spent thus he was captured and put into a Danish dun- 
geon, where he died, a raving maniac. 

Murray now took charge of the government, sending 
Mary to Loch-le'ven Castle, in the middle of a Scotch 
lake, whence he fancied she could not escape. The 
Scotch Parliament next decided that Mary ought to give 
up the crown to her son James VI., and that Murray 
should be regent until he could reign alone. So a paper 
was carried to Mary in Lochleven Castle, and she was 
forced to sign it and give the crown to her infant son. 

Prison life soon became so irksome to Mary that she 
made several efforts to escape. Once she bribed a wash- 
erwoman to exchange clothes with her, and then left the 
castle in the boat which had brought the woman. But 
she was soon detected by the whiteness and delicacy of 
,her hands, and was brought back to her prison. 

Mary made several other unsuccessful attempts, but 



242 

finally escaped with the help of a boy called George 
Douglas. Friends were waiting to meet her, and Mary, 
having raised a small army, marched against Murray, who 
was coming to recapture her. 

Although she commanded her troops in person, Mary 
was defeated. Fearing that the Scotch would again im- 
prison her, she fled in haste from the battlefield. Without 
pausing once to rest, she rode sixty miles to the frontier, 
and, crossing Solway Firth, came into England. 

Then she wrote a letter to Elizabeth, begging her pro- 
tection. On receiving this message, Elizabeth pretended 
that she would be very glad to welcome Mary as her guest, 
but she said that she could not do so until the Queen of 
Scots was cleared from the charge of helping to murder 
Darnley. 

Elizabeth therefore sent attendants to Mary, who was 
lodged in a castle, while a committee was appointed to try 
her. There were witnesses for and against her, but it was 
not settled whether she was innocent or guilty. Eliza- 
beth said that as long as the matter was undecided she 
could neither receive her kinswoman nor allow her to leave 
England, and on this pretext kept her a prisoner. 

At first the Queen of Scots was not kept in close cap- 
tivity, for we are told that she was allowed to go out as 
much as she pleased, and to receive visitors. But when 
Elizabeth saw that Mary's beauty, intelligence, and pa- 
tience won her many friends, she began to grow uneasy. 
Her uneasiness was increased by a plot which was made 
by the Catholics to kill her, free Mary, and place the latter 
on the throne of England. 

This conspiracy was discovered in time, as well as two 



243 

others formed by Nor'folk and Bab'ing-ton, and most of 
those who took part in them were executed. After each 
attempt to set Mary free, her residence was changed, and 
at last she was taken to Foth'er-in-gay Castle. Here she 
was tried, found guilty of plotting against Elizabeth, and 
although she insisted that she was innocent of all crime, 
she was condemned to death as a traitor. 

The news of this sentence was received with horror by 
the French and the Scotch, who both sent ambassadors 
to England to protest against its being carried out. But 
Parliament insisted that neither the queen nor the country 
would be safe so long as Mary lived, so Elizabeth reluc- 
tantly signed the death-warrant. 

Mary calmly heard this paper read to her, prepared for 
death, wrote her will, and, after sleeping peacefully for a 
few hours, rose and dressed as richly as possible. At her 
request, a few of her most faithful servants were allowed 
to accompany her to the scaffold, which was erected in 
the great hall of the castle. 

There, after freely forgiving the executioners who knelt 
before her to beg her pardon, Mary, Queen of Scotland, 
committed her soul to God, and, laying her head upon the 
block, gave the signal for her death. She had been a 
prisoner about nineteen years. 

When she was dead, Elizabeth seemed to jegret her 
execution. She even wore mourning for her, and sent 
away one of her ministers, on the ground that he had had 
the death-warrant executed after she had recalled it. 



STO. OF ENG. — l6 



244 



LXXXI. WRECK OF THE SPANISH ARMADA. 

PARLIAMENT had fancied that when Mary was dead 
all trouble from the Catholics would be ended, be- 
cause they would have no person of their faith to set upon 
the throne. Parliament was mistaken, however, for Mary 
in her will left her claims to the throne of England to 
Philip II. of Spain, the champion of the Roman Catholic 
Church, and a descendant of the English house of Lan- 
caster. 

Philip II. had several reasons for hating the English. 
First, he was angry because they had received him coldly 
and refused him a share in the government when he mar- 
ried Queen Mary ; second, Elizabeth had refused to marry 
him ; third, she had either secretly or openly helped the 
Protestants in the Netherlands when they revolted against 
him; fourth, Elizabeth — in order to punish him for train- 
ing students in his universities to believe that any one who 
murdered her would do a good deed — had allowed many 
of her captains to capture his gold-laden ships on their way 
from America to Spain. 

These reasons, added to Mary's will, gave Philip II. the 
excuses he wanted for making war against England. He 
therefore prepared an immense army at Dunkirk, under 
the Duke of Alva, his best general, and a huge fleet at 
Ca*diz. His ships were so large that he proudly fancied 
no one could resist them, so he boastingly called this fleet 
the never-to-be-beaten, or Invincible Ar-ma'da. 

The news of the coming war and of Philip's vast prepa- 
rations terrified the English. Elizabeth, however, did not 



245 

seem to lose courage, and her noble example inspired all 
those around her with hope. Troops were drilled, vessels 
were manned, and arrangements of all kinds were made. 
Elizabeth herself rode through her army's camp, vowing 
that she wished she were a man, so that she might fight too. 

Her greatest helper at this time was one of her bravest 
seamen, Sir Francis Drake. He had made many journeys 
to America, had captured several gold-laden galleons, and 
was the first Englishman to see the Pacific and sail around 
the globe. This man was bold, clever, and so daring that 
he actually made his way into the harbour of Cadiz and 
destroyed part of the ships and stores collected there. 

Nothing daunted, Philip repaired his losses ; but the 
Invincible Armada no sooner started out than it met a 
severe gale and had to put back into port. Finally, how- 
ever, it sailed northward, and a Scotch pirate, who was the 
first to discover it, gave the alarm in England. There, 
as had been agreed, signal fires were lighted all along the 
shore to warn fleet and army of the coming attack. 

The ships which composed the Armada were much 
larger than the English vessels, and twice as numerous. 
The English fleet was under the orders of Admiral How- 
ard ; but Drake, Hawkins, Frob'ish-er, Winter, and Raleigh 
(raw'ly), all noted English seamen, commanded a few ves- 
sels, and by their daring helped him greatly. 

The Spanish galleys were so heavy that they moved 
slowly, and the English seamen took advantage of this to 
seize or sink all those which lagged behind the rest. They 
followed the fleet up the Channel, and when it anchored 
off Calais, sent into its midst boats filled with burning 
materials. 



246 

The Spaniards, fearing that their vessels would catch 
fire, cut their cables and scattered wildly, and many ships 
were captured, one by one, by the English. Seeing that 
he was worsted, the Spanish admiral wanted to return 
home ; but as he did not dare run the gantlet by passing 
through the English Channel amid the English ships, he 
made up his mind to sail around the British Isles. 

The English pursued him as long as their ammunition 
held out ; and when they left him, a tempest arose, and 
many of his vessels were wrecked on the northern coast. 
Here the inhabitants murdered from five to seven thousand 
Spaniards ; but a few were rescued, and made their homes 
among the Irish. 

When the admiral came back to Spain with the battered 
remains of his Invincible Armada, Philip remarked that 
he had not expected him to make war against the billows. 
But the expedition was never renewed, and Elizabeth could 
pride herself upon having defeated a formidable enemy, 
thanks to her wise foresight in preparing for war ever since 
she had come to the throne. A medal was struck to com- 
memorate the defeat of the Armada, and on it was the 
legend, " Jehovah blew, and they were scattered ; " for the 
English rightly felt that the victory was not all due to their 
valour. 

LXXXII. THE ELIZABETHAN AGE. 

SIR WALTER RALEIGH was one of the men who 
distinguished themselves in the fight with the Ar- 
mada. He was very clever; and after studying at Ox- 



247 

ford, he fought for the Protestants in the Netherlands and 
in France. 

Raleigh was fond of fine clothes and anxious to win the 
favour of the queen. So one day he dressed up in his 
best garments, and, placing himself in the queen's path, 
watched for her coming. Suddenly he saw her appear 
with her court, and pause in dismay at a muddy spot in 
the road. Rushing forward, the quick-witted Raleigh 
pulled off his elegant cloak and carefully spread it over 
the mire, thus allowing the queen to proceed without soiling 
her dainty shoes. This courtesy so pleased Elizabeth that 
she took Raleigh into favour, and soon after granted him 
an extensive tract of land in North America, which he 
called Virginia in honour of her, the Virgin Queen. 

Another man highly esteemed by Elizabeth — Spenser, 
the author of a poem called the " Faerie Queene " — was 
introduced to her by Raleigh. But one of her principal 
courtiers was Sir Philip Sidney, who is noted for his good- 
ness, his great talents as a writer, his beautiful manners, 
and especially for his truthfulness and generosity. 

Sidney was also a brave general, and when he fell, mor- 
tally wounded, at the battle of Zut'phen, in Holland, his 
followers were in despair. One of them succeeded with 
great difficulty in bringing him a little water to drink. 
But Sir Philip, although he was longing for it, kindly gave 
it to a wounded soldier lying near him, saying, " Take it, 
friend; thy necessity is greater than mine." A few min- 
utes later Sidney was dead. While he is honoured for his 
talents and courage, every one must feel that this unselfish 
action just before he died is the greatest of his deeds. 

Raleigh, Spenser, and Sidney were not the only men of 




(248) 



249 



letters, nor the greatest writers, of what is known as the 
Elizabethan Age. There were many other poets and 
prose writers whose works will some day interest you ; 
but the greatest of them all was William Shakespeare. 

This famous writer of plays came to London a poor young 
man, took a place as actor in a theatre, and often played 
before the queen. He soon discovered that he could also 
write plays, and he produced such fine tragedies and come- 
dies that no other poet has ever been able to equal them, 
and they are now read and viewed with even more delight 
than in the days when he took part in them himself. 

Besides the plays of Shakespeare and of the other writers 
of his time, Elizabeth delighted in pageants, or outdoor 
plays, and whenever she went to visit the great lords of 
her realm, they used to entertain her with such shows. 

We are told that Elizabeth was very fond of making 
what was then called a " progress " through some part of 
her kingdom. On these state occasions she wore her 
richest garments and jewels, was carried in her litter by 
the noblest of her 
courtiers, attended 
by countless knights 
and ladies, and wel- 
comed everywhere 
with music, fire- 
works, and festivi- 
ties of all kinds. 

Oneofthe grand- 
estof her progresses 

was made to the Castle of Kenilworth, where she went to 
visit her favourite Leicester, and where he spent a fortune 




Wm 

Ruins of Kenilworth Castle. 



2^0 



to please her. All this display was very agreeable to 
Elizabeth, who insisted upon seeing every one well 
dressed. She herself wore the most gorgeous apparel, 
but as she was afraid lest some one else should look bet- 
ter in one of her dresses than she, all her garments were 
carefully put away, and when she died three thousand 
discarded gowns were found hanging in her wardrobes. 



»: «■ :< 



LXXXIII. DEATH OF ELIZABETH. 

WHEN Leicester grew too old to please Elizabeth, 
he presented to her his son-in-law, the handsome 
Essex. The queen lavished gifts of all kinds upon this 
favourite, and when Burleigh died, after serving her faith- 
fully for forty years, she made Essex her principal adviser. 

Trouble having arisen in Ireland, Elizabeth sent Essex 
thither to put down a rebellion headed by the Earl of 
Ty-rone'. But Essex had been spoiled by the favour shown 
him, and disobeyed the queen's orders. Hearing that she 
was angry, he came home without her permission, and 
forced his way into her presence all travel-stained. 

The queen, who was already displeased, fancied that his 
soiled garments were a token of disrespect, and coldly 
bade him withdraw. This repulse was so unexpected 
that Essex fell ill; but when the queen heard he was 
suffering, she shed tears, and sent him soup from her own 
table. 

Essex had made such grave blunders while in Ireland 
that a council was called to judge him; but he, thinking 



251 

the queen had forgiven him, seemed not to fear a trial. 
He came about the court as usual, and when the queen 
refused to grant him a favour, he spitefully remarked that 
now she was an old woman she was as crooked in mind as 
in person. This speech was reported to Elizabeth, whose 
vanity was so hurt that she allowed the council to imprison 
and try her former favourite, and to sentence him to death 
for high treason. 

But, according to one famous story, she fancied she could 
still help him, for she had once given him a ring, saying 
that if he should ever be in any trouble he need but send 
it to her and she would save him. Elizabeth felt sure Es- 
sex would make use of this ring to save his life, but it was 
not brought to her. Essex, on his part, could not believe 
that the queen would really allow him to die, and even on 
his way to the scaffold he kept watching for a messenger 
bringing his pardon. 

Not very long after his death, the Countess of Notting- 
ham begged the queen to come to her, as she wished to 
tell her something before she breathed her last. Elizabeth 
complied with this request, and then the dying countess 
confessed that Essex had given her a ring to carry to the 
queen, but that her husband would not let her do so. As 
she finished her confession she begged the queen to for- 
give her; but Elizabeth angrily shook her, saying, "God 
may forgive you, but I never can!" 

Perhaps this romantic tale is true, and it was this confes- 
sion she had just heard that embittered the rest of Eliza- 
beth's life. Anyway, she soon became ill, took no food, 
and lay on the floor ten days, refusing to be moved. Her 
attendants supported her there with cushions, and when 



252 

she became too ill to resist, they put her into her bed, 
where she died (1603). 

Although Elizabeth was a tyrannical ruler for forty-five 
years, she had so many fine qualities that she was called, 
and is still known, as " good Queen Bess." She was the 
last of the five rulers of the Tudor line. 



>^c 



LXXXIV. A SCOTCH KING. 

ONE hundred and eighteen years had passed since the 
Tudors first became masters of England on Bosworth 
battlefield. There were no Tudors left, and as Elizabeth 
had never before been willing to name a successor, her 
ministers, as she lay on her deathbed, begged her to ap- 
point one. She was then too weak to speak, but nodded 
her approval when they suggested that the crown should 
go to her nearest relative, James VI. of Scotland, the only 
child of Mary Stuart and Darnley. 

This monarch, who was already thirty-seven years old, 
therefore became King of England, which, with Scotland, 
is called Great Britain. But although the crowns w r ere 
united, the parliaments were separate for about a century 
longer. James I. of England, as the new king was called, 
immediately set out for his new realm, and on his journey 
thither he gave the title of knight to many men. He had 
been born a Roman Catholic and brought up a Puritan ; 
but he now favoured the Church of England, to the dis- 
appointment of both Catholics and Puritans. 

A few of the former, seeing he would not restore the 



253 

Catholic religion, as they had hoped, now made a conspir- 
acy to put his cousin Lady Arabella Stuart upon the 
throne. They failed, however; but as the poor lady had 
been merely their tool, she was at first kindly treated. 
When she escaped from prison and married, James had her 
captured again and closely guarded until she died. 

Several noted Catholic gentlemen were accused of 
having taken part in this plot, among others the famous 
Sir Walter Raleigh. He was imprisoned, tried, and sen- 
tenced like the rest ; but for some reason he was reprieved, 
and spent the next twelve years in the Tower. Here he 
was allowed to receive visitors and to write and study as 
much as he pleased. 

In the reign of Elizabeth tobacco was first brought to 
England by Raleigh. It was such a curiosity that a new 
servant, entering Sir Walter's room and finding him 
smoking, fancied that his master was on fire, and hastily 
flung a pitcherful of water over him. As James did not 
approve of smoking, he wrote a book against the practice, 
pompously calling it "A Counterblast to Tobacco." He 
was so proud of this work, and of all his intellectual gifts, 
that the French wittily called him " the wisest fool in 
Christendom." 

James I. was homely, vain, stupid, and so untidy in 
person and habits that even his friends compared him to 
the filthiest of all animals. He was also mean, untruthful, 
and so fond of eating and drinking that he has often been 
called a drunkard and a glutton. His principal amusement 
lay in hunting and cockfighting, or, as he prided himself 
upon being very learned, in arguing about religion. 

Hoping to settle all church difficulties, and especially to 



254 

show his talent in argument, James soon called a religious 
conference. Although this meeting did not do all that 
he had hoped, it decreed a careful revision of the Bible. 
During the next four years, it is said, fifty learned men 
worked hard at this translation, and finally printed what 
is still known as " King James's Bible." 

The Puritans, Independents, Sep'a-ra-tists, and Non- 
con-form'ists, as those who would not conform to the estab- 
lished religion were called, would not yield. Parliament 
refused to change the laws, so James boastingly said : " I 
will make them conform, or I will harry them out of the 
kingdom." 

It was because James was so determined to have his 
subjects worship as he wished, that some of them resolved 
to leave the country. A small band of Separatists first 
went over to Holland ; but, seeing that their children would 
soon forget the English language and their native country 
if they continued to dwell there, they came back to Eng- 
land, and, embarking on the Mayflmver y set sail for the New 
World to make their homes there. These Separatists, who 
are known as the Pilgrim Fathers, landed on Plym'outh 
Rock in 1620, and founded the first colony in New England. 



>:*:«. 



LXXXV. THE GUNPOWDER PLOT. 
SHORTLY after the king's religious convention, some 



S 



of the Roman Catholics, seeing they would never get 
what they wanted from the king, formed a plot to blow 
him up, with his eldest son and all the members of Parlia- 



255 



ment. With this purpose in view, they hired the cellars 
under the hall where Parliament sat, and stored away 
there great quantities of gunpowder and fuel. 

One of the conspirators, anxious to save the life of a 
friend, wrote him a letter warning him not to go to Parlia- 
ment on a certain day, as his life would be in danger. 




The Present Houses of Parliament (built since 1840). 

This letter seemed so suspicious that the man who received 
it showed it to the king. James, on reading it, cleverly 
discovered its hidden meaning, and immediately sent some 
officers to visit the cellars under Parliament House. 

These officers, entering unexpectedly, found there a 
man named Guy Fawkes, and seized him. It was well 
they did so, for when they searched him, they found he 
had a lantern and slow-match all ready. Clearing away 
the fuel, they next discovered the barrels of gunpowder, 
and a train all ready laid to set them off. 



256 

When they asked Guy Fawkes why he had so much 
powder stored there, he gruffly answered that it was to 
blow the Scotchmen back to Scotland. He was taken off 
to prison, where, under torture, he revealed the names of 
his fellow-conspirators. Those who had taken part in the 
Gunpowder Plot were arrested, and hanged, drawn, and 
quartered. 

The narrow escape of the king and Parliament was 
commemorated by a yearly holiday on the 5th of Novem- 
ber. On that day there were bonfires everywhere, and 
after a straw effigy of Guy Fawkes had been duly paraded 
through the streets, it was publicly burned. This holiday, 
which is still celebrated in England, was observed also in 
America until the time of the Declaration of Independence. 

Throughout James's reign there was a constant struggle 
between the Parliament and the crown. James fancied 
that a king reigned by divine right and could do as he 
pleased ; so whenever Parliament opposed him, he dis- 
solved it. Finding, however, that this did no good, and 
that each new Parliament was more or less against him, he 
tried to get along without any. 

But as he was always in need of money, and as he could 
not raise it by taxes, except through Parliament, he was 
often forced to resort to strange means. Besides asking 
for benevolences, or gifts, from rich people, he sold titles 
and offices, and tried many other ways of raising money. 
The funds he obtained, however, were not wisely used, 
for James was both lavish and miserly. 

Once, for instance, he ordered that ^20,000 should be 
given to his first favourite, a worthless creature by the 
name of Carr. The treasurer, knowing that James would 



257 

not willingly give away the money if he only realized how 
much it represented, made a heap of it and showed it to 
the king. James gazed at it in wonder, and when he 
heard that this glittering heap of gold was the sum he 
had promised Carr, he flung himself upon it and clasped 
it in his arms, saying he could not part with it. 

To increase his own wealth, as much as for the good 
of the country, James encouraged commerce. This was a 
great advantage, and London grew rapidly, owing to the 
trade brought by the ships which came up the Thames 
(temz). Once, when angry with the lord mayor, who re- 
fused him funds, James threatened to leave London- and 
establish his capital elsewhere, thinking such a measure 
would diminish the city's trade. But the lord mayor an- 
swered this threat by saying, " Your majesty hath power 
to do what you please, and your city of London will obey 
accordingly; but she humbly begs that when your maj- 
esty shall remove your courts, you would please leave the 
Thames behind you." 

The mayor, you see, realized that it was owing more to 
the Thames than to the presence of king and court that 
London had become so thriving a city. 



^< 



LXXXVI. SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 

DURING the reign of Elizabethan the year 1600, some 
English traders formed the East India Company. 
Their charter was renewed in the reign of James, and at 
the same time a traveller named CorVat wrote an account 



258 

of his visit to one of the greatest Indian rulers, and gave 
an enthusiastic description of the country, little suspecting 
that it would, in days to come, belong to the English. 

James's eldest son, Prince Henry, was such a very good 
and clever lad that every one loved him. The prince was 
very fond of learned men, so he often visited Raleigh in 
the Tower, where the latter was busy writing a history of 
the world for his use. Henry greatly admired Raleigh, 
who had travelled so much, and who conferred an inesti- 
mable benefit on Ireland by bringing potatoes over from 
America to plant there. 

Henry was sorry to see this able man languish in prison, 
and he was once heard to say : " No king but my father 
would keep such a bird in such a cage!" Unfortunately 
for Raleigh, the young prince did not live long enough to 
free him, but suddenly died from a cold caught after play- 
ing a violent game of tennis. 

Some time after that, James, being short of money, and 
hearing that Raleigh knew where a gold mine was to be 
found, took him out of prison, and, giving him a vessel, 
sent him in search of the treasure. In this expedition 
Raleigh got into trouble with the Spaniards, and when 
he came home without any money, the king was so angry 
that he sent him back to the Tower to be executed. 

Raleigh was a good and brave man, and, knowing he was 
innocent, he went to his death without fear. When he 
was on the scaffold, he gently ran his finger along the 
edge of the ax, and then, giving it to the executioner, he 
said: " This is a sharp medicine, but a cure for all evils." 

James, having sent away his favourite Carr because the 
latter ceased to amuse him, now took up a young man 



259 

whose principal attractions were his good looks and graceful 
dancing. He bestowed upon this new favourite the title 
of Duke of Buckingham, and soon no one could approach 
the king except through this " Steenie," whose only aim 
was to lead a merry life and get a great deal of money. 

This vicious man spent much of his time with the king's 
son Charles, for whom he did not set a good example. 
He even went in disguise with the young prince to the 
court of Spain, for Charles was anxious to see the Spanish 
princess whom he was to marry. On their way, the two 
young men visited the French court, where they saw Hen- 
rietta Maria, the king's fair sister. 

On reaching Spain, Buckingham was coldly received. 
This made him so angry that he soon influenced James to 
give up the Spanish match, and to bargain with France for 
the hand of Princess Henrietta. 

James's daughter married the Elector Frederick V., so 
England was dragged into the war then troubling Europe, 
which is known as the Thirty Years' War. Here the Eng- 
lish and the Spanish were opposed to each other; for 
since the marriage between Charles and the Spanish prin- 
cess had been broken off, they had ceased to be friends. 

Four very clever men lived in the reign of King James. 
The first was Lord Francis Bacon, one of Elizabeth's ad- 
visers. This man was very talented, but he accepted 
bribes, and was sent away from court in disgrace. The 
second, Ben Jonson, wrote so well that he came to be re- 
garded as Shakespeare's successor, and was buried in 
Westminster Abbey. The third was John Na'pi-er, a man 
of science, who invented the tables of logarithms, which 
in higher arithmetic help as much as the multiplication 

STO. OF ENG. — 17 



26o 



tables in easier sums. The fourth was the Dutch artist 
Van-dyke', who first came over to England to paint the 
portrait of James I. Later on, he became court painter to 




Ed. Ender, Art 



Charles I. and Vandyke at Hampton Court. 

Charles I., and his portraits of that unhappy king, of the 
beautiful queen, and of the royal children, now form the 
principal decoration of a room in Windsor Palace, which 
bears the artist's name. 



LXXXVII. KING AND PARLIAMENT. 



w 



HEN King James I. died of ague, in 1625, his son 
Charles became King of Great Britain in his stead. 
He was a most kind-hearted and amiable prince, devoted 



26l 



to his wife Henrietta Maria, — whom he married shortly 
after he became king, — and an excellent father. Unfor- 
tunately, however, Charles was a bad king. His father 
had taught him to believe in the divine right of kings, and 
Buckingham had taught him that a promise made to his 
people need not be regarded as sacred. 

When Charles came to the throne, he found that his 
father had not only spent all the money in the treasury, 
but had left large debts. Moreover, money had to be 
raised to carry on the war against Spain ; so Charles called 
a Parliament and asked it for funds. Now the members 
not only hated the queen because she was a Catholic, but 
were anxious to have the king dismiss his favourite, Buck- 
ingham. So they said they would do as Charles wished 
if he sent Buckingham away. The king refused, and as 
Parliament would not grant him as much money as he 
wanted, he dissolved it. Then the Catholics soon began 
to trouble him, because he did not give them all the privi- 
leges they wanted; so he listened to the advice of Buck- 
ingham, and, to punish the French king for helping Spain, 
decided to send aid to the Hu'gue-nots, or French Protes- 
tants. They were then closely besieged at La Rochelle 
(ro-sher), a town on the coast of France. 

The first expedition, under Buckingham, failed. To get 
money for a second, Charles granted Parliament the Peti- 
tion of Right (1628), an enlarged edition of the Great 
Charter. The money secured, a fleet was made ready ; 
but when Buckingham was about to take command of it, 
he was murdered by a man who fancied it would be well 
to rid the country of so vicious a creature. 

Although Buckingham's death was no loss to the people, 



262 



the king missed him sorely. He needed an adviser, and, 
hoping to please every one, he selected a Puritan leader 
for his minister, and made him Earl of Strafford. At first 
the Puritans were well satisfied; but when they saw that 
Strafford used all his great talents to uphold the king, 
they were very angry. They showed this by refusing to 
do what the king asked, when the next Parliament met. 
Charles therefore sent them away in wrath, vowing he 
would govern without any Parliament, although he knew 
this was against the law. 

During the next eleven years Charles ruled alone, helped 
only by his two ministers, Strafford and Laud. He raised 
a great deal of money by fines imposed by the Star Cham- 
ber; but as this did not prove enough, he finally sent out 
an order calling for ship money. 

Until then, whenever the country was in danger, the 
people living along the coast had been called upon to pay 
a tax which, as it was used for the navy, was called ship 
money. Now Charles asked that all the people in England 
should pay this tax, a thing he had no right to do, for the 
right of imposing taxes belongs to Parliament only. 

The result was that people grumbled a great deal, and 
one rich man, named Hamp'den, who did not like to see 
his countrymen treated unjustly, refused to pay it. He 
was promptly brought before the court, where only four 
men out of twelve had the moral courage to say that the 
king was doing wrong. Still, although people did not 
dare say so openly, and although the court forced Hamp- 
den to pay ship money, all were indignant and ready to 
revolt against a king who did not respect the laws he had 
solemnly promised to uphold. 



263 



LXXXVIII. CAVALIERS AND ROUNDHEADS. 

I AUD, one of the advisers of Charles I., now told him 
\^j that there would be less trouble if all the people 
were of one religion, and thus persuaded the king to say 
that everybody ought to conform to the Church of Eng- 
land. The result was that many Puritans and Catholics 
alike set sail for America to found new colonies, where 
they should have the right to worship as they pleased. 

But when Charles bade the Scotch conform to the Eng- 
lish Church, they resisted openly. One old woman even 
flung a chair at the preacher's head when he began to read 
the Anglican service ; and the excited people, assembling 
in great numbers, drew up a " Covenant," or agreement, 
whereby they bound themselves to resist any religious 
changes. All those who signed this paper were called 
Covenanters, and as they were determined to fight rather 
than yield, they began to drill, and fortified their towns. 

Hearing of this, Charles marched northward with an 
army, which he was obliged to dismiss before he reached 
Scotland, because he had no money with which to pay his 
soldiers or buy them food. As he could do nothing with- 
out funds, Charles called a Parliament which was so 
promptly dissolved that it is known as the Short Parliament. 

A second Parliament soon assembled, and this time the 
members began by accusing Strafford and Laud of giving 
the king bad advice. They were so angry with the former 
that, in spite of all he could urge in his own defence, they 
sentenced him to death. 

Charles, who was attached to Strafford, refused to sign 



264 

the death-warrant until the condemned minister wrote 
him a noble letter, saying that it would be best to do so, 
in order to pacify the House of Commons. The king then 
weakly yielded, and poor Strafford was beheaded. 

Next, a law was made providing that Parliament could 
not be dissolved (which meant sent away for good and all) 
or adjourned (which meant sent away for a short time), 
except by its own consent. Parliament also put an end 
to the Star Chamber, and began to right various wrongs. 
But while these reforms were going on, a rebellion broke 
out among the Irish, who killed thousands of Englishmen 
in a few days. 

As Parliament still refused to give Charles money and 
soldiers to put down this rebellion, the king tried to frighten 
the members by marching into their place of meeting with 
his guards, to arrest five of the principal men, among whom 
were the patriots Hampden and Pym. But they managed 
to escape, and the Speaker, or head of the House of Com- 
mons, refused to tell the king where they had gone. 

Seeing that Parliament was using the money got by 
taxes to raise an army to oppose him, Charles soon with- 
drew to York, where he was joined by many noblemen 
and Catholics, who, on account of their gallant bearing, 
were called Cavaliers. As the opposite party was com- 
posed principally of Puritans who wore their hair cut 
short, they were soon dubbed Roundheads, a name which 
you will often hear. 

The Royalists, or Cavaliers, were led by the king himself 
and by his nephew, the gallant Prince Ru'pert, while the 
Puritans followed the lead of Hampden and Pym in poli- 
tics, and that of Fairfax and Oliver Cromwell in war. The 



265 



king gave the signal for civil strife by raising his standard 
on Nottingham Hill in 1642 ; and when it was blown down 
during a storm, people regarded this as a bad omen. 

During the next six years the civil war raged; and 
while the Cavaliers fought with daring, they were not able 
to hold out against the steady 
discipline of the Roundheads. 
Although beaten at Edgehill, 
the Puritans won victories at 
Marston Moor and at Nase'by, 
where Charles vainly tried to 
rally his troops by calling to his 
men, " One charge more, and 
we recover the day!" 

Seeing that all was over, the 
king fled in disguise and sur- 
rendered to the Scotch troops, 
thinking that, although they 
too had rebelled, they would 

treat him kindly. His baggage fell into the hands of 
Cromwell, who, instead of imitating the conduct of the 
great Roman generals, read all Charles's private letters. 

He not only read them, but had them published; and 
when, later on, the people saw that the queen had gone to 
Holland to pawn the crown jewels, and that the king still 
meant to have his own way, they began to quote these 
letters. The Scotch were indignant, too ; and when Par- 
liament refused to pay them for their services unless they 
gave up the king, they tamely yielded. 




Oliver Cromwell. 



266 



LXXXIX. "REMEMBER." 

AT first Charles was treated with great respect, although 
f~\ closely guarded ; but before it was decided what to 
do next, a quarrel arose between Parliament, which was 
mostly Puritan, and the army, which was composed of a 
very strict set of Roundheads, called the Independents. 

The army was very determined to have things its own 
way, and, seeing that Parliament showed signs of coming 
to terms with the king, Cromwell sent his captain Joyce 
to seize Charles. The king, surprised, asked to see Joyce's 
warrant ; but when the captain silently pointed to the men 
who formed his escort, he said : " Your warrant is indeed 
drawn up in fair characters and legible." 

It was useless to resist, so Charles, who all through his 
trials behaved with great dignity and gentleness, quietly 
allowed himself to be taken to Hampton Court. Then, 
seeing that Parliament was inclined to forgive the king, 
Cromwell placed soldiers at the door to prevent any but 
Independent members from going in. It was thus that 
the Rump Parliament, so called because it was only a 
small part of the state body, voted that the government 
should be placed in its hands, and that Charles should 
be tried as a traitor for taking up arms against the law. 

The king was therefore brought before his judges, who 
addressed him as Charles Stuart. But he refused to answer 
their questions, saying they had no right to try him. 
When they accused him of treachery, in the name of the 
people of England, a voice in the audience boldly cried 
out: "No; not a tenth part of them." 



267 



But although many were still ready to defend the king, 
although the French and the Scotch protested against his 
arrest, and although Prince Charles, the king's eldest son, 
promised to do anything Parliament wished if it would 
only spare his father, Charles was condemned to death. 

The king heard his sentence calmly, and asked only that 
he might take leave of two of his children, who were still 




F. Goo Jail, A 



The Children of Charles I. 



in England. This wish was granted; and when Charles 
had his little son on his knee, he kissed him and said : 
" Mark, my child, what I say : they will cut off my head, 
and will want to make thee king; but thou must not be 
king so long as thy brothers Charles and James are alive. 
Therefore I charge thee not to be made king by them." 

Little Prince Henry, who was too young to understand 
what was going on, was, however, so impressed by what 



268 



his father said, that he looked up into Charles's face and 
solemnly said: " I will be torn in pieces first!" 

This parting over, Charles got ready to die, with the 
help of his chaplain Juxon. He slept peacefully the last 
night, and, hearing that it was cold out of doors, he put 
on two shirts, lest the wind should make him shiver on the 
scaffold and the people should think he was afraid to die. 

The scaffold had been erected just outside of Whitehall, 
so the king was led out to it through one of the windows 
of the banquet room. There was a great throng present, 
but the people were kept at a distance, and drums were 
beaten when the king began his last speech. But even on 
the scaffold Charles behaved in the same gentle way, and 
after saying that he had always done what he considered 
right, and that his only crime was to have consented 
to Strafford's execution, he prepared to die. The last 
word the king uttered was, " Remember," which he ad- 
dressed to Juxon. A few moments later the executioner 
held up the king's head, saying, " This is the head of a 
traitor," and all the people burst into tears. 

No one has ever known exactly to what the mysterious 
word "remember" referred, because Juxon would never 
tell ; but it is generally supposed that Charles reminded 
his chaplain to be sure to tell his son never to avenge his 
death, but to forgive the men who had condemned him. 

As most of the king's family were abroad, they suffered 
no harm. But the two children who had seen their father 
just before his death were sent to learn a trade. One of 
them, the little princess, died of grief for her father, but 
Cromwell finally took pity upon little Prince Henry and 
sent him over to his mother in France. 



269 



XC. THE ROYAL OAK. 

A FEW days after the execution of Charles I., Parlia- 
ment said that as there was no king in England, 
there should be no nobility, and therefore no House of 
Lords. England was now a republic instead of a mon- 
archy, and the new seal of the state, or Commonwealth of 
England, bore the inscription : " The first year of freedom, 
by God's blessing restored, 1648." 

But while all the Puritan party said the monarchy was 
at an end, the Royalist party claimed that since Charles I. 
was dead, his son Charles II. was King of England. The 
Scotch Parliament, which had had no share in the king's 
execution, promised to be true to Charles II. if he would 
only swear to respect their Covenant. 

In Ireland, also, all the Catholics were in favour of 
Charles. They rebelled against the Commonwealth, but 
Cromwell immediately set out to subdue them. He car- 
ried on the war with such cruelty, sparing neither man, 
woman, nor child, that the mere name of Englishman be- 
came a terror to the Irish. 

While Cromwell was thus busy in Ireland, Charles II. 
had come over to Scotland, where the people rose up to 
help him recover his throne. Cromwell, hearing of this, 
left his chief officer, Ireton, in Ireland. Then, crossing the 
Irish Sea, he marched over the border, defeated the Scotch 
troops at Dunbar, and moved on to Edinburgh. 

The Royalists, taking advantage of this, boldly invaded 
England, where they expected that many people would 
join them. But Cromwell, marching rapidly southward 



2JO 

again, surprised their army at Worcester (woos'ter). The 
Cavaliers were routed, and King Charles sought safety in 
flight. He was in great danger, for Cromwell's soldiers 
were scattered all over the country, looking for him. 
Charles's few followers soon saw that their only chance of 
safety lay in separating and escaping in disguise. 

The young king, therefore, went to the house of a farmer 
named Penderell, at Bos'co-bel, and, telling the man who 
he was, begged his help. Although this farmer knew that 
he was risking his life in befriending the king, he gave 
Charles a suit of his own clothes and cut off his long hair. 
Then, hearing that search parties were in the neighbour- 
hood, he led the king through a forest to a field in the 
midst of which grew a very bushy oak tree. 

Penderell helped Charles to climb up and hide in the 
branches of the oak. Here they staid all day, the weary 
king resting against the farmer, who, seeing his royal 
charge had fallen asleep, held him tight lest he should fall. 
While they were thus concealed in the Royal Oak, a 
party of soldiers rode directly under the tree, talking of 
Charles and of the reward they soon hoped to win. 

During the next six weeks Charles wandered about from 
place to place, in different disguises, trying to reach the 
seashore and find a boat in which to escape to France. 
All through those weary weeks the royal fugitive was 
helped first by one person and then by another. 

We are told that more than forty persons, and most of 
them very poor, knew who he was and helped him, al- 
though they ran great risks and could have earned a large 
reward by betraying him. After much tramping and 
many adventures, Charles came to the house of a Royalist 



271 

named Lane. Here he assumed the livery of a servant, 
and soon rode away as the attendant of Miss Lane, who 
had a permit to journey to Leith with her servant. 

In this disguise Charles passed right through the Parlia- 
mentary troops, and came to an inn, where the hostler 
recognized but did not denounce him. In another inn, 
the king roused the cook's suspicions because he did not 
know how to turn the meat to roast it properly; but he 
disarmed this man's anger by saying they were too poor 
at his house to have any roast meat. 

A landlord once recognized him, and begged that he 
and his wife might receive the titles of lord and lady as 
soon as the king came to the throne. Thus wandering 
from place to place, Charles finally reached Shoreham, 
where, embarking upon a little vessel, he bribed the cap- 
tain to take him over to France. 



£<Kc 



XCI. THE COMMONWEALTH. 

WHILE Charles was thus making his escape, General 
Monk subdued Scotland, General Ireton reduced 
Ireland, and Admiral Blake began to punish the Dutch, 
who had made trouble for the English vessels. You see, 
Parliament had decreed that no ships of other nations 
should bring the products of foreign countries to English 
ports. The Dutch, who had long made much money by carry- 
ing goods to England, did not like this Navigation Act; 
so they declared war, and their admiral, Van Tromp, after 
sundry checks, won a victory over Admiral Blake and 



272 

forced him to retreat. The Dutch admiral felt so proud 
of this victory that he sailed up and down the Channel 
with a broom tied to the top of his mast, boasting that he 
had swept the seas clean. 

But for all his boasting, he was soon defeated by Blake, 
and a treaty was made in which it was settled that all 
foreign vessels should recognize England's power by 
lowering their flags thrice in salute when they met an 
English ship. 

In the meantime the affairs of the state were not going 
on satisfactorily. Cromwell, seeing that the Long Parlia- 
ment, after sitting thirteen years, had not done much good, 
thought it time to dissolve it ; so he arose in the hall one 
day and suddenly cried: "For shame! Get you gone! 
Give place to honester men. You are no longer a Parlia- 
ment. The Lord has done with you. He has chosen other 
instruments for carrying on his work." 

At a stamp of his foot, his soldiers came filing in to 
drive the members out. Then Cromwell bade them re- 
move the mace, the emblem of parliament's power, and, 
locking the doors, he carried away the keys. Shortly 
after that he called a new Parliament, composed mainly of 
Independents, and as the principal orator was named Praise- 
God Barebone, this Parliament is often called Barebone's 
Parliament. 

This new assembly gave Cromwell the title of Protector 
of the Commonwealth. He decided that in the present 
state of affairs England was best under military rule. So 
he dismissed Parliament, raised taxes whenever he pleased, 
and had all the power of a king, although he refused to 
accept the crown when it was offered to him. 




(273) 



274 



But although Cromwell proved so able a ruler that he 
forced all the foreign countries to respect England, and 
made the country very prosperous, he was not happy. 
He knew that the Catholics and Royalists hated him, and 
was in constant dread of being killed. He wore armour 
under his clothes, never slept two nights in succession in 
the same room, always had loaded pistols at hand, and 
never came back to Whitehall by the road by which he 
left it. Besides, he knew that the people he loved most, 
his wife and daughters, did not approve of his having 
allowed Charles I. to be killed, or of his refusing to give 
back the throne to Charles II. 

During his short rule Cromwell won the city of Dunkirk 
and the island of Ja-mai'ca from Spain ; he subdued the 




Westminster Abbey. 



pirates at Tu'nis and Trip'o-li ; and, best of all, he insisted 
that every one should have the right to worship as he chose. 



275 

The Jews were therefore allowed to come back into Eng- 
land, whence they had been driven by Edward I. 

Other great improvements which took place during the 
rule of Cromwell were the circulation of the first news- 
papers and the development of a better postal service. 
Letters were now carried from point to point on certain 
fixed days, instead of waiting until the postman thought 
there were enough to make it worth while ; and all mem- 
bers of Parliament were allowed the right of sending as 
many letters as they chose, free of charge, a privilege 
which was called " franking." 

Although Oliver Cromwell was Protector of England 
for only five years, he is one of the most famous men of 
the country whose welfare he had close at heart. He did 
so much for England that he was granted the right of 
naming his successor. He therefore said that his son 
Richard should govern after him. Soon after this he died 
of ague, in 1658, and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 
among the bodies of the kings whose power he had wielded 
without ever bearing their title. 



>>SK< 



XCII. THE RESTORATION. 

OLIVER CROMWELL was, as you have seen, a very 
remarkable man ; but great as he is in history, his 
secretary Milton is even greater than he. This man was 
a Puritan of great genius, and so very diligent that he 
spent all his time in study. When only a college student, 
he wrote a beautiful poem called " Ode on the Nativity," 

STO. OF ENG. — 18 



276 

and after a busy life and much hard work, he spent his 
old age in writing " Paradise Lost," one of the greatest 
poems in the English language. 

Although he had become blind, Milton would not cease 
to work ; so his daughters sat by him, reading aloud learned 
works in Latin and Greek. But they could not under- 
stand these books, for their father said that " one tongue 
was enough for a woman," and would not let them study 
more. Milton's poem was published about nine years after 
Cromwell died, and about seven before the poet's death. 

Richard Cromwell was very unlike his father, and un- 
willingly accepted the office of protector. Seeing that 
the people were dissatisfied under his mild rule, he resigned 
at the end of a few months, leaving the country in a very 
bad state, for both Parliament and the army wanted to rule. 

j^s Cromwell's strong hand was no longer there to hold 
the reins of government, General Monk, the most capable 
man in the country, decided that England would be better 
off under the rule of her rightful king. He therefore came 
down from Scotland with his army, dismissed the Parlia- 
ment, and called for a new election. 

Most of the members of the new Parliament were so 
strongly in favour of law and order that when General 
Monk proposed that Charles should come back, the plan 
was greatly approved not only by the House of Commons, 
but also by the House of Lords, w r hich was now assembled 
for the first time since the death of Charles I. A message 
was sent to Charles in Holland, and he immediately set 
out for England, where he landed in May, 1660. General 
Monk came to Dover to meet him, and escorted him to 
London, where he was crowned in Westminster Abbey. 



277 

This return of the royal family is known as the Restora- 
tion ; for now the crown was restored to the rightful heir. 

All the people received the pleasant-mannered, good- 
natured king with great delight, and as he encouraged them 
to resume amusements which the strict Puritans had con- 
sidered sinful, he is known as the Merry Monarch, and the 
country was again called " Merry England." 

Charles pleased everybody, at first, by promising that 
every one should be pardoned, except the sixty men who 
had taken it upon themselves to sentence his father to 
death, and who were known as the regicides, or king killers. 
Some of these were already dead, and others had left the 
country ; so only a few were captured and put to death. 

Next, the body of Cromwell was taken out of its grave 
and hung at Tyburn, with those of a few other dead regi- 
cides. But Richard Cromwell, who had left England, was 
soon allowed to come back and end his days in peace there. 

With the return of the king the Church of England was 
restored; but Charles did not follow Cromwell's wise 
example and allow every one to worship as he pleased. 
Charles generally allowed his friend the Earl of Clarendon 
to govern for him. He tried, however, to force even the 
Scotch to become members of the Church of England, 
although he had once promised to respect their Covenant. 
They resisted fiercely, held secret meetings in the moun- 
tains, and, when surprised by the king's troops, died like 
martyrs rather than give up their mode of worship. Ex- 
asperated by the cruel treatment inflicted by Clav'er-house, 
commander of the king's troops, the Covenanters finally 
rebelled, and for many years stoutly resisted every attempt 
to force them to worship as the king wished. 



278 



XCIII. PLAGUE AND FIRE. 

WHEN Charles came to the throne he was already 
thirty years old. During his exile he had met and 
loved a woman whom he secretly married. This marriage, 
however, was not according to the law, so it was decided 
that the king's son, the Duke of Monmouth, could never 
inherit the crown. 

The legal heir to the crown was the king's brother 
James, a Roman Catholic, and it was feared that he would 
try to make England a Catholic country. As many of the 
people had not forgotten the troubles which such an at- 
tempt had brought about in the days of Queen Mary, they 
begged Charles to marry again, hoping he would have a 
legitimate son to succeed him. 

After much hesitation, Charles finally chose Catherine 
of Bra-gan'za, daughter of the King of Portugal. She 
was very rich, and besides a great deal of money, gave her 
husband the city of Tan-gier' in Africa, and that of Bom- 
bay' in India, where the English had. been trading ever 
since the year 1600. The new queen was a strict Catho- 
lic, brought up in a convent, and she was so shocked by 
the free manners of the ladies and gentlemen at her hus- 
band's court that she lived a very quiet and retired life. 

It was not the same with Charles II. He lived a gay 
life, and set such a very bad example for his people that 
he did a great deal of harm. The Puritans were shocked 
by his lack of principle, and those who had fought for him 
were pained by his ingratitude. For, out of all who at 
such peril and self-sacrifice had aided him in his escape, 



279 

the only person whom he ever rewarded was the farmer 
who spent a day with him in the Royal Oak. 

Throughout Charles's reign there were many troubles 
about religious matters, and soon there came a calamity 
which the Puritans said was sent to punish the king for 
his sins. This was the plague, a disease which started in 
the East and spread rapidly over Europe. It raged every- 
where, but nowhere worse than in London. Whole families 
died in a few days ; and while the rich fled into the coun- 
try, hoping to escape contagion, the poor had to stay in 
the city, where many who did not die of the plague per- 
ished of hunger. No trading was done, grass grew in the 
streets, and almost every house bore a cross and the words, 
" God have mercy upon us," rudely marked on the door, 
to show that it was plague- stricken. Twice a day heavy 
carts rumbled along the deserted streets to bear away the 
dead. Their passage was heralded by the ringing of a 
bell, and the dismal cry, " Bring out your dead, bring out 
your dead." 

It is estimated that two thirds of the inhabitants of 
London died of this plague. The houses, mostly built of 
wood and badly ventilated, could not be properly cleaned ; 
so a second calamity, a great fire which destroyed thirteen 
thousand houses the next year, proved a blessing in dis- 
guise by destroying the germs of the plague. 

The flames swept onward so fast that people barely 
escaped with their lives, and a great deal of property was 
lost. In spite of the efforts made even by King Charles 
and his brother, the flames raged on and on, until they 
consumed the old Church of St. Paul's. 

When the fire was finally put out, a large part of the 



28o 



city had been burned down and had to be entirely re- 
built. This led to a great improvement ; for the streets 
were now made wider, the houses more comfortable, and 
the great English architect, Sir Christopher Wren, made 
plans for thirty-five new churches and entirely rebuilt 
St. Paul's. 



XCIV. THE MERRY MONARCH. 

THE Puritans, who did not approve of any kind of 
amusement, said that the plague and the fire had been 
sent to punish the people for following the king's gay ex- 
ample. For a time, therefore, the calamity had the effect 
of sobering both people and king ; but the latter soon 




Edwin Landseer, Artist. 

King Charles Spaniels. 



resumed his merry life, and thought more of his pet dogs 
than of his duty. 

All the money voted by Parliament was spent for pleas- 
ure ; and as those sums were not enough, Charles sold Dun- 
kirk to the French, three years before the great plague. 



28l 



This made the people so angry that they accused Claren- 
don of being a poor minister, and had him exiled. 

Clarendon gone, the power was placed chiefly in the 
hands of five ministers, who formed a committee called 
the Ca-bal\ and, strange to say, the letters spelling this 
word were also the initials of their names. The Cabal 
made England begin a war with Holland, and closed a 
secret treaty with the French king, who paid large sums 
to Charles to get his help against the Protestants. But 
when it had ruled six years, better ministers took its place, 
and called a new Parliament, to restore order. 

The new Parliament found out that Charles favoured 
the Roman Catholics ; and as he and Catherine had no 
children, and his brother James (a firm Catholic) was his 
heir, they again began to fear that an attempt would be 
made to force all England to return to the old faith. The 
majority were so opposed to this that they made a law 
that no one should hold a government position until he 
swore to uphold the reformed faith. 

Many Catholic officers consequently gave up their posi- 
tions ; and as the Quakers refused to take any oath, because 
their religion allowed them only to say " yea " and " nay," 
they too could hold no offices. In fact, many of them 
were thrown into prison, while others left the country and 
went to settle in the New World. 

The same Parliament also made the law, still called by 
the Latin words ha'be-as cor pus, whereby no man could 
be kept in prison unless he had been tried before a judge 
and found guilty. This was a great improvement; for 
until then the king had sometimes imprisoned people with- 
out any trial, and kept them captive as long as he pleased. 



282 



At this time the whole country was divided into two 
large parties. One was composed of fierce Protestants, 
called Whigs. They were willing to let Charles reign as long 
as he had Protestant ministers, but said that his brother 
James, the Duke of York, should never come to the throne. 
It was to please this party that Charles married his two 
nieces, Mary and Anne, the daughters of James, to Prot- 
estant princes. But, while the Whigs approved of these 
marriages, the Catholic or royal party, who were called 
Tories, did not like them. 

The quarrels between the Tories and the Whigs led to 
sundry plots. One of them, the Rye House Plot, was 
discovered, and many people were executed, because they 
were accused not only of wishing to prevent James from 
ever being king, but also of wanting to murder Charles. As 
the discontent in the country still increased, James now 
proposed some harsh measures. But Charles, knowing the 
English would rebel, quietly answered : " Brother, I am too 
old to go again on my travels; you may, if you choose." 

Things might have grown worse had not the Merry 
Monarch suddenly been stricken with apoplexy, and died 
at the age of fifty- five. His reign is famous on account 
of the writings of the poets Milton and Dry den, and of 
Daniel De-foe 7 , who, as you may know, wrote an account 
of the plague, and the story of " Robinson Crusoe." 

Though very good-tempered, Charles was neither a 
good nor a great man. He was far more fond of pleasure 
than of work, and his promises were easily made and bro- 
ken. One of his courtiers, who knew his character per- 
fectly, once showed him the following verse which he had 
written, as a joke, for the royal tombstone : 



283 

" Here lies our sovereign lord the king, 
Whose word no man relies on ; 
Who never said a foolish thing, 
Nor ever did a wise one." 

Charles, having read these lines, handed them back to the 
author, saying with a smile, " The last part may be very 
true; for my words are my own, but my doings are my 
ministers'." This, however, was no real excuse; for 
Charles, being king, was responsible for his people, and 
should at least have tried to do his best for them. 



>^< 



XCV. JAMES DRIVEN OUT OF ENGLAND. 

CHARLES was succeeded by his brother James, who, 
as you know, was not very welcome to many of the 
English, because he was a Catholic. Still, they allowed 
him to reign, for they hoped he would not rule long, as he 
was already more than fifty years of age, and they knew 
that his daughters, Mary and Anne, who would succeed 
him, had both married Protestants. 

James was very different from his brother, and, although 
earnest, was so far from clever that a courtier once said: 
" Charles could see things if he zvould; James would if he 
could." The new king had wandered about a great deal 
during his youth, and at the Restoration he had become 
an admiral. We are told he did good service at sea, and 
that he invented the system of signalling with flags. In 
reward for his services in the Dutch war, he had received 
the province and city of New Am'ster-dam, whose name he 
changed to New York. 



284 

When James's first wife died, leaving two daughters, he 
married a young and beautiful Italian princess called Marie 
d'Este (das'te). She was much younger than he, a very 
ardent Catholic, and greatly disliked by the English be- 
cause she tried to meddle in state affairs. 

On coming to the throne, James II. promised to support 
the Church of England and to govern the country by the 
laws of the realm. But, three days later, he broke both 
these promises by sending a messenger to the pope and 
by raising money without the permission of Parliament. 
The people, seeing that he could no more be trusted than 
the other Stuarts, were very angry, and many of the Prot- 
estants joined the Duke of Monmouth, who landed in 
England to demand the throne. 

Monmouth claimed the throne as Charles's son, and 
accused James of setting fire to London, of poisoning King 
Charles, and of many other crimes of which he was not 
guilty. Some of the English pretended to believe what 
Monmouth said, and joined in the rebellion. It burst out 
in Scotland under the Duke of Ar-gyle', and in England 
under the Duke of Monmouth. Both dukes were defeated, 
however. When Monmouth fell into James's hands, after 
the battle of Sedgemoor, he begged pitifully for mercy, but 
he and Argyle were both beheaded. 

James was very revengeful, so he sent a cruel officer 
named Kirk, and a still more heartless judge named Jef- 
freys, to try and to punish all the rebels. Kirk and his 
"lambs," as he jokingly called his soldiers, massacred all 
who had borne arms, while Jeffreys sentenced to death 
men and women who had only given water or food to 
fugitive rebels. He was so cruel that he condemned both 



285 



innocent and guilty, and his rule has been called the Eng- 
lish Reign of Terror, or the Bloody Assizes. 

Urged by the queen and by other bad advisers, James 
not only showed no mercy to the rebels, but rewarded 
Jeffreys for his cruelty by making him chancellor. Then 
he began to remove Protestants from their offices, so as to 
put Roman Catholics in their places. When six of the 
bishops refused to read a declaration which annulled all 
the laws against Catholics, he sent them to the Tower. 
But, owing to the Habeas Corpus Act, he had to let them 
go when the judges said they were guilty of no crime. 

All these things were borne rather patiently by his sub- 
jects, who comforted themselves with the thought that as 
oon as James died his Protestant daughters would succeed 
him. But all their hopes were blasted when they heard 
that the queen had given birth to a son, who would, of 
course, be brought up a Catholic and inherit the crown. 

This was more than the Protestants could bear, so they 
sent word to William of Orange, the husband of Mary, to 
come over and deliver them from a Roman Catholic rule. 
The nobles and Princess Anne joined in this petition; and 
when James heard that his favourite daughter was against 
him, he cried: "God help me! My own children have 
forsaken me! " 

The people were so angry that the queen hastily fled 
with the baby prince, and King James, fearing lest he 
should lose his head like his father, soon prepared to follow 
them to France. He slipped out of the palace unnoticed, 
rowed over the Thames, into whose waters he flung the 
great seal, and went to Fav'er-sham, whence he hoped to 
sail across the Channel. But he was recognized by some 



286 




E. M. Ward, Artist. 

James II. receiving the News of the Landing of William of Orange. 

fishermen there, who brought him back to London. The 
king was more frightened than ever ; but his daughter Mary, 
thinking it best that James should seem to flee from Eng- 
land of his own accord, gave orders that the soldiers 
should guard him carelessly. James then contrived to es- 
cape, and joined his wife and son in France, where the 
king gave him the palace of St. Germain (saN zher-maN') 
for his abode. 



>^< 



XCVI. A TERRIBLE MASSACRE. 



JAMES gone, the crown was offered to William and 
Mary by Parliament. A new charter was made, in 
which, besides the laws of the Magna Charta granted by 
John, and those of the Petition of Right granted by Charles, 



287 

were those called the Act of Settlement. Among other 
things, this act decided that the crown could belong only 
to a Protestant ruler, and that if Mary, Anne, and William 
all died without children, it should go to Sophia, a grand- 
daughter of James I., and to her Protestant descendants. 

The change of government which gave the crown to 
William and Mary is called the " glorious revolution of 
1688 ; " and it was glorious not only because it took place 
without costing a drop of blood, but also because England, 
instead of being ruled by a tyrant, was to be governed by 
its own laws, and thus to be a constitutional monarchy. 

William of Orange was the great-grandson of a famous 
Dutch hero of the same name, and grandson of Charles I., 
King of England. Although weak and sickly, he was a 
great fighter and a very determined man. The English did 
not like him much at first, because he was cold and re- 
served and spoke English badly ; but they all loved the 
virtuous Queen Mary. Her excellent example was soon 
followed by other women, who, instead of gambling and 
thinking of nothing but dress and amusement, now began 
to delight again in needlework and study. 

Although most of the Protestants had warmly wel- 
comed William and Mary, all the Catholics had remained 
faithful to James ; and as his name in Latin was Ja-co'bus, 
they were called Jac'ob-ites. Besides, the Highlanders, 
as the Scotch who lived in the northern and mountainous 
part of the island were called, were so loyal to the old 
royal family that for a time they refused to obey William 
and Mary. 

After these Highlanders were defeated, an edict was 
published, promising full pardon to all rebels if they would 
only take, before a certain day, an oath to be faithful to 



288 



the new rulers. One of the Highland families, or clans, 
the MacDon'alds, by mistake failed to take this oath in 
time ; so their enemies, the Campbells (kam'elz), got an 
order to put them to death. Coming to the valley of 
Glen-coe' as if they were friends, and tarrying there twelve 
days, the Campbells suddenly fell upon the MacDonalds 
and began to murder them. A few escaped to the moun- 
tains, but it was only to perish of hunger and cold, not far 
from the ruined homes where they had once been happy. 

William wanted the whole kingdom to be of one reli- 
gion ; but finally he granted full freedom in religious mat- 
ters to all the people. The church was therefore mainly 
Anglican in England, Presbyterian in Scotland, and Roman 
Catholic in Ireland, and so it still remains to-day. 

In England the population had been increased by the 
arrival of many French Protestants, the Huguenots, who 
had been driven out of France in 1685, when the king re- 
called a law allowing them to worship as they pleased. 
These industrious Huguenots began to work at their 
trades, and at Spit'al-fields they set up the first English 
silk manufactory. 

XCVII. WILLIAM'S WARS. 

ALTHOUGH the Whigs had welcomed William III. 
/Y and Mary II., King James had kept some friends in 
England. These did not believe, as did most of the Prot- 
estants, that his child was an adopted one which he passed 
off as his own merely to make sure the crown should not 
go to his Protestant daughters. As they wanted James 



289 



back, he came with a small French army, and landed in 
Ireland, where most of the people were Catholics and 
Jacobites. He first tried to take Lon'don-der-ry, one of 
the few Irish towns which were in the hands of William's 
party. The siege lasted one hundred and five days ; but al- 
though the people suffered untold agonies from famine, and 
ate cats, dogs, rats, and old leather, they would not yield. 

Finally an English vessel with provisions was sent to 
Londonderry's relief, and forced its way through the en- 
emy's fleet. Shortly after this William himself came over 
to Ireland, and met James on the banks of the Boyne. 
Here William's best officer, General Schom'berg, was killed, 
and William himself narrowly escaped a like fate. 

The battle raged fiercely, and James, who was watching 
it from afar, kept wringing his hands and crying, " Oh, 
spare my English subjects!" William, having already 
taken part in many battles, showed such coolness and 
courage on this day that he won a great victory. He also 
won the admiration of the Irish ; for when taunted by an 
English soldier, an Irish captive promptly said: "Ex- 
change kings with us, and we will fight you again." 

James in the meantime fled from the battlefield of 
Boyne, and did not draw rein until he came to a place of 
safety. Here, in answer to a question put to him by an 
Irish lady, he pettishly said: "Madam, your countrymen 
have fled." "Yes," she answered promptly; "but I see 
your majesty has outstripped them all!" 

As there was no hope for him in Ireland, James went 
back to France to collect new troops. The French fleet 
had won a slight victory at Beachy Head, but it was de- 
feated later on by the Dutch and English at La Hogue. 



290 

The rebellion in Scotland and Ireland being quelled, 
William left Mary in England to govern with the aid of 
her council, and went back to Holland, where war awaited 
him. For while James was trying to recover his throne 
in Ireland, his allies, the French, were making war against 
the Protestants in Germany, the friends of the Dutch. 

This war between the French and the English extended 
even to America, where it was known as King William's 
War. It was concluded, however, a fe*w years after the bat- 
tle of La Hogue, by the treaty of Rys'wick (1697), wherein 
Louis XIV. recognized William and Mary as rulers of Eng- 
land and promised never to help the Jacobites again. 

Queen Mary having died of smallpox, William now be- 
came sole king. One of the first acts of Parliament in 
his reign was to give the newspapers full freedom and allow 
them to say anything they pleased, a privilege which had 
been denied them until then. 

When James II. died, the French king broke the promises 
made in the treaty of Ryswick ; for he at once proclaimed 
James's son to be King of England, under the name of 
James III. But the English remained faithful to William, 
and always spoke of the young prince as the Pretender, 
under which name he is best known in history. 

The English soon declared war against France ; for not 
only did the French support the Pretender, but they had 
also placed a French prince upon the throne of Spain, in 
spite of an agreement they had made not to do so. Par- 
liament voted large sums of money for this War of the 
Spanish Succession, and William was eagerly looking for- 
ward to taking part in it, when he was thrown from his 
horse, and died a few days later from his fall. 



291 



XCVIII. THE DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. 

1 I /ILLIAM III. reigned five years jointly with Mary 
y y and eight years after her death. Under his wise 
rule English law and liberty made great progress, and 
while he was never greatly loved, he was much respected. 
He was a stern, silent, but good and earnest man. He 
loved his wife dearly, and after his death a ring contain- 
ing a lock of her hair was found tied to his arm. 

Besides helping the country to become strong and pros- 
perous, William founded two great institutions — the Green- 
wich (gren'ij) Hospital for sick and disabled seamen, and 
the world- renowned Bank of England. 

It had been decided by Parliament that if William and 
Mary died without children the crown should pass to 
Anne, the second daughter of James II. A good, gentle, 
and kind-hearted woman, the new queen was not well edu- 
cated, nor clever, nor handsome. She had married a very 
insignificant Protestant, Prince George of Denmark, but al- 
though they had many children, all died when babies, ex- 
cept one son who lived to be eleven. 

When Queen Anne came to the throne, in 1702, all the 
preparations had been made to carry on the war which in 
Europe was called the " War of the Spanish Succession," 
and in the colonies " Queen Anne's War." In this contest 
the English, Dutch, and Germans banded together in the 
Grand Alliance, to punish the French king, Louis XIV., for 
placing his grandson upon the throne of Spain. 

The Germans were commanded by Prince Eugene; but 
the Dutch and English forces were in charge of the Duke 

STO. OF ENG. — 19 



292 

of Marrbor-ough, who had already fought under James 
and William. This general, who never lost a battle or 
failed to take a town, was always calm and deliberate, form- 
ing a great contrast to the impetuous Prince Eugene. 

One day, we are told, when a council of war was called, 
Prince Eugene and the other officers were all in favour of 
attacking the enemy on the morrow, but Marlborough 
would not consent. Prince Eugene argued for a while, 
then flew into a passion, taunted Marlborough with coward- 
ice, and finally challenged him to fight a duel. But the 
duke remained perfectly cool, refused the challenge, and 
allowed the prince to depart in anger. Early the next 
morning, however, Marlborough came to Prince Eugene's 
tent to awake him and bid him prepare for battle. The 
prince sprang up joyfully, saying, " But why would you 
not consent to this last night? " 

" I could not tell you my determination last night," 
answered Marlborough, " because there was a person 
present who, I knew, was in the enemy's interest and 
would betray us. I do not doubt we shall conquer, and 
when the battle is over I will be ready to accept your 
challenge." 

Prince Eugene, like a true gentleman, seeing that he 
had been in the wrong, now promptly apologized for his 
passion on the night before ; and when he and the duke 
parted amicably, the latter said : " I thought, my dear 
prince, you would in time be satisfied." 

This strangely assorted couple of commanders was very 
successful, and although the French tried to make the duke 
ridiculous by writing a long ballad about him, they were 
thoroughly beaten in the four battles of Blen'heim, Ra- 



293 

millies (rah-mee-yee'), Ou'den-ar-de, and Malplaquet 
(mahl-plah-ka'). The news of these victories was received 
with joy in England, and after each new triumph the queen 
bestowed some new reward upon her brave general. 

It was thus that Marlborough received the Woodstock 
estate, where the grateful English people built him a palace 
which is still called Blenheim, in memory of his greatest 
victory. He also received the Garter, which was generally 
given only to kings or princes, and large sums of money. 
It is said that the greater part of these gifts were be- 
stowed at the suggestion of his wife, Lady Church/ill, who 
was Anne's most intimate friend. This woman was very 
clever and imperious, and had a great influence over the 
gentle queen ; but she became so proud that at last she 
treated even the queen with scorn. 

After patiently submitting to all Lady Churchill'scaprices 
for a long while, Anne finally grew very tired of her. She 
therefore made a friend of her lady of the bedchamber, 
Mrs. Masham, and sent the Duchess of Marlborough away. 
The gifts bestowed upon the duke now became fewer; but 
those he and the duchess had already received have be- 
longed to their family ever since. 

The Duke of Marlborough, who was one of the greatest 
generals that ever lived, and one of England's military 
heroes, was nevertheless a strange mixture of all that was 
great and noble, and, alas ! of all that was mean and small. 
The great qualities which make every one admire him were 
spoiled by the fact that he was so fond of money that he 
would do the meanest things to increase his fortune. Be- 
sides, he was not always faithful to his king, and did not 
consider his promises sacred. 



294 



XCIX. THE TAKING OF GIBRALTAR. 

WHILE Marlborough was winning glorious victories 
for his country in the north of Europe, another 
English commander, Sir George Rooke, carried on the war 
in Spain, and by a bold move became master of Gibraltar, 
one of the strongest fortresses in the world. The fort 
stands on a huge rock at the entrance of the Mediterra- 




Gibraltar. 



nean Sea ; and although many efforts have since been made 
to recapture it, the British flag still floats proudly over it. 
But at first the English so little knew the value of this 
glorious possession that Parliament did not even send a 
vote of thanks to the gallant Sir George Rooke. 



295 

Shortly after the taking of Gibraltar, the union between 
Scotland and England was completed by arranging that 
there should be only one Parliament for both countries. 
Since 1707, when this change took place, Scotchmen have 
had seats both in the House of Lords and in the House 
of Commons. 

All through the reign of good Queen Anne the two 
political parties, Whigs and Tories, were constantly quar- 
relling, yet England steadily prospered. The queen her- 
self took very little part in the government, which was left 
almost entirely in the hands of her ministers. But while 
all England was rejoicing over the victories won abroad, 
Anne was very sad ; for her husband, George of Denmark, 
became ill and died. He had taken no part in the gov- 
ernment, and he was so uninteresting that Charles II. 
once cried in jest : " I have tried him drunk and sober, 
and there is nothing to him." 

Five years after his death, the War of the Spanish Suc- 
cession came to an end, and peace was signed at U'trecht 
(1713). Louis XIV. again promised not to uphold the 
Jacobites, and in America he gave up all claim to New- 
foundland, A-ca'di-a, and the land around Hudson Bay. 

Although Anne herself was not a clever woman, her 
time is almost as famous in literature as that of Elizabeth, 
because so many noted men lived then. Among them 
were the poet Pope, the satirist Swift, and Ad'di-son and 
Steele, the great writers of the " Tatler " and " Spectator," 
the first two English magazines. That is why in literature 
you will find this epoch called the Age of Queen Anne. 

Parliament, you know, had decided that if Anne died 
without leaving children, the crown should go to Sophia, 



296 

the granddaughter of James I. This princess had married 
the Elector of Han'o-ver, and had always hoped to be 
queen ; but she died before Anne, so the crown, which 
she never wore, was placed upon her coffin. 

When Queen Anne grew very ill, and her ministers 
saw she was about to die, they sent word to Sophia's 
son George, the Elector of Hanover, to be ready to come 
over to England at any moment, to take possession of 
the throne. Then, as soon as Anne breathed her last, 
Parliament proclaimed George King of Great Britain. 

The new monarch came over as quickly as possible, 
though this was not very fast, for travel was very slow in 
those days. He was met and welcomed by Marlborough 
and by the Whigs, who were then in power. George I. 
was a plain-mannered, middle-aged German who could 
speak only a few words of English. He was a good busi- 
ness man ; but when he wanted to talk with his prime 
minister Warpole, he had to use the help of an interpreter, 
or else speak Latin, the only language that they both 
knew. The English, however, were so anxious to have a 
Protestant ruler that they welcomed George and applauded 
him greatly when he said : " My maxim is never to aban- 
don my friends, to do justice to all the world, and to fear 
no man." 



C. THE SOUTH SEA BUBBLE. 

WHEN the English saw that George I. was more 
attached to his German friends than to any one 
else, they were not pleased. The Tories, many of whom 



297 

had been satisfied as long as a Stuart reigned, were in- 
dignant at being turned out of their offices to make room 
for Whigs. They began to side with the Jacobites, and 
said that the crown ought to be given to the Pretender. 

This party in favour of the Pretender even went so far 
as to proclaim him James III. of England, and to invite 
him to come over and join them. Provided with a small 
army by the French king, the Pretender started out; but 
he was of so timid a disposition that he inspired his 
followers with no confidence. The Jacobites were already 
disheartened by the battle of Sher-iff-muir', and James 
soon gave up the contest and returned to France. 

The Scotch, ever faithful to the Stuarts, had been the 
first to fight for the Pretender, and it was they who suffered 
most sorely. A few of the nobles were beheaded, although 
their friends tried to save them ; but many were merely 
banished to America, where the colonies were steadily 
growing in importance. 

As there was not much to amuse him in England, 
George made long and frequent visits to Hanover, leav- 
ing the government in the hands of his ministers, who did 
all they could to make Great Britain a great and free 
country. Little by little, through the king's neglect of 
his duty and through his absence from the meetings of his 
ministers, his power grew less while theirs grew greater. 
The ministers came to be very important officers of the 
government, and the king having let slip his control over 
them, his successors could never fully recover it. 

For several years England was greatly excited over 
the South Sea Company's plan for trading with Spanish 
America. People were eager to get rich without working, 



298 

so they gave all their money to speculators, who promised 
them ten pounds for every one they invested. A great 
many of the English foolishly believed this, and rashly 
gave their savings, although Walpole constantly warned 
them that the plan could not succeed. At that time 
there was no end to the wild schemes in which money 
was invested, for companies were even formed for making 
salt water fresh, and for changing all metals to gold! As 
Walpole had predicted, the South Sea scheme swelled 
like a bubble and — burst. Many people lost all they had, 
and complained bitterly, but ever since then the English 
have not been by any means so ready to rush into wild 
speculation. 

The reign of George I. was short and uneventful. He 
was king for thirteen years, and died of apoplexy in his 
carriage, on his way to Hanover, whither he was hastening 
back, as usual, after a short sojourn in England. His 
eldest son, who had been named Prince of Wales at his 
coronation, now became king, under the title of George II. 

George II. had the simple tastes of his father, but was 
less clever and of a violent temper. He, too, preferred 
Hanover to England, and therefore left the government 
to Walpole. 

The French and the Spaniards, meantime, had made 
a secret or "family compact" to help each other. The 
Spanish now boarded English ships under pretext of 
searching for their countrymen or goods, and acted very 
insolently. This, added to a quarrel about the bound- 
aries of Georgia and Florida, made bad feeling between 
the two nations. One day a Spanish captain roughly 
tore off the ear of an Englishman named Jenkins. Then, 



299 

flinging the fragment in the man's face, he bade him 
carry it to King George and tell the latter that the 
Spaniards would treat him in the same way if they 
caught him. 

This rude message proved the " last straw," and started 
the " War of Jenkins's Ear," as it is sometimes called. 
But although the fighting began between England and 
Spain, a quarrel about the crown of Austria soon involved 
all Europe in the "War of the Austrian Succession." 
Great Britain, Holland, and Austria were on one side, 
France, Spain, Prussia, and Bavaria on the other, and the 
war spread even to the colonies. You can read in your 
United States histories how it was conducted in America, 
where it was called "King George's War." In Europe 
it was carried on by George II., who took part in and won 
the battle of Det'ting-en. But the British did not win any 
very great advantage, and after eight years the War of 
the Austrian Succession was ended by the peace of Aix- 
la-Cha-pelle' (1748). 

CI. BONNY PRINCE CHARLIE. 

TAKING advantage of the general confusion during 
the War of the Austrian Succession, Prince Charles 
Edward, the son of the Pretender, tried to recover the 
Stuarts' throne. 

Aided by a French fleet, he attempted to land in Eng- 
land. Then, undismayed by a first failure, he made a 
second venture, and, in spite of a tempest, set foot on the 
shores of Scotland. Here he and his seven followers were 



300 

quickly joined by Highlanders, who, as the king and army 
were on the Continent, got possession of Edinburgh. 

Next, the gallant Young Pretender, whom the Scotch- 
men affectionately called " Bonny Prince Charlie," won a 
victory at Pres-ton-pans', and, having secured the artillery, 
began to march towards London. The English, in terror, 
set a price of ^30,000 upon the head of Prince Charlie, 
and quickly collected troops. 

In the meantime most of Scotland had fallen into the 
hands of the Jacobites. Perceiving, however, that the 
brave Highlanders could not fight in England so advan- 
tageously as in their wild mountains, and seeing that the 
English force was three times greater than his own, Prince 
Charlie retreated. He was finally overtaken and beaten 
at Cul-lo'den. Flight saved him from death or captivity, 
but during the next five months he had to wander from 
place to place. He had many narrow escapes during that 
time, and suffered greatly from cold and hunger, although 
the brave Highlanders did all they could for him. 

At last, after many adventures, Prince Charlie put on 
the dress of a servant girl, and pretended to be the maid 
of a young Scotch lady, Flora MacDonald, who volun- 
teered to help him. With her aid, he passed through an 
English squadron and reached a vessel which brought him 
safely to the Continent. 

At the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle it was again agreed 
that the French should no longer uphold the Stuarts. The 
Pretender, therefore, left France and went to Rome, where 
he and his two sons led unworthy lives. Bonny Prince 
Charlie, who had been so brave and energetic in Scotland, 
now became an idler and drunkard, and thus forfeited the 



301 



esteem of all respectable people. These last three mem- 
bers of the Stuart family claimed in turn the titles of 
James III., Charles III., and Henry IX. They were buried 
in Rome, where their tomb, the work of the celebrated 
sculptor Ca-no'va, bears these pompous names. 




Alexander Joh 



Flora MacDonald's Introduction to Prince Charlie. 



The Highlanders who had so bravely helped and screened 
Prince Charlie were punished sorely ; for the victor of Cul- 
loden, the Duke of Cum'ber-land, killed so many of them 
that he is known in history as the " butcher." 

The War of the Austrian Succession was barely ended 
when a new conflict broke out. This was known in Europe 
as the " Seven Years' War," and in America as the " French 
and Indian War." Once more the English and the French 
were opposed, and fought wherever they met. 




(3°2) 



303 

The British minister was now William Pitt, who is 
called the "Great Commoner; " and he took such wise 
measures that victory remained with the British. You 
know how they took Fort Duquesne (doo-kan' ; which 
was afterwards named Pittsburg, in honour of Pitt), Forts 
Ni-ag'a-ra and Ti-con-der-o'ga, and the city of Que-bec'. 

Thus the British gradually became masters in North 
America. At the same time their men and money helped 
win the battle of Min'den, and Admiral Hawke bravely 
destroyed the French fleet, although at the risk of losing 
his life and ships on the rocky coast of Brittany. 



>^k< 



CII. THE BLACK HOLE OF CALCUTTA. 

THE war which thus raged in two parts of the world 
was also extended to a third. In the days of Queen 
Elizabeth, the English had formed the East India Com- 
pany and had begun to trade in Asia, where the French 
had preceded them. By this time the East India Com- 
pany had several trading posts, besides the city of Bom- 
bay, which had belonged to the English ever since the 
marriage of Charles II. Whenever there was war between 
France and England, the French and the English traders 
in India took part in the quarrel. 

Now, when the Seven Years' War began, the English 
had a small station at Cal-cut'ta, besides their settle- 
ments at Ma-dras' and Bombay. The Viceroy of Ben- 
gal (ben-gawl'), an ally of the French, suddenly attacked 
the Calcutta station with a large force of natives. Of 



304 

course the place fell into his hands, and he ordered one 
hundred and forty-six English prisoners to be locked up 
under the fort in a small, dark room, known as the Black 
Hole. 

There was barely standing room for the prisoners in this 
small place ; but they were driven in at the sword's point 
and the door was closed. Now you know that people 
cannot live without plenty of air; and as soon as these 
captives were shut in they began to gasp for breath, for 
there were only two very small windows. 

It is frightfully hot in India, and this was in the month 
of June. The English knew that they must die in a few 
hours if they were not released, so they implored the sen- 
tinels to go and ask the viceroy to put them elsewhere. 
But the soldiers did not dare disturb their master, who 
was resting; and, besides, they were so heartless that they 
laughed as they watched the Englishmen struggling to 
reach the window for a breath of aii% and heard them 
clamour for water. This was given to them in very small 
quantities, but only in exchange for large sums of money. 

The suffering of those poor people cannot be described; 
and when the door was finally forced open, the next morn- 
ing, only twenty-three were still alive! All the others 
— one hundred and twenty-three — had perished from want 
of air! 

When this news reached the ears of the English traders, 
one of them, Robert Clive, set out with a force of about one 
thousand Englishmen and two thousand natives, whom he 
had drilled until they made good soldiers. With this small 
army, he defeated the Viceroy of Bengal's sixty thousand 
men at Plas'sey (1757), and recaptured Calcutta. 



305 

Since that day Calcutta has belonged to the British, 
who have made of it a great and flourishing city. The 
whole of Bengal soon came under their rule, and little by 
little they extended their conquests, until in 1760, the year 
of the death of George II., they drove the French out of 
India. 

During the reign of this monarch a change was made in 
the calendar. The English had hitherto kept to the length 
of the year adopted by the Romans in the days of Julius 
Caesar. But it had long been known that according to 
this system the year was, on the average, about eleven 
minutes too long; and these eleven minutes in each year 
had by this time amounted to eleven days, so all dates 
were eleven days wrong. 

On the Continent this error had been corrected by the 
pope in 1582; but the English had clung to the "Old 
Style," and they dated their letters September 3 when 
people elsewhere wrote September 14. This difference 
made correspondence very awkward, so, by decree of Par- 
liament, the date was changed in the year 1 752. Not only 
were the eleven days provided for, but it was also decided 
that the year should thereafter begin on January I, instead 
of on the 25th of March, as had been the custom until then. 



£^< 



CIII. LOSS OF THE THIRTEEN COLONIES. 

GEORGE'S son having died before him, he was suc- 
ceeded by his grandson, George III. The new ruler 
was not a native German, like the two Han-o-ve'ri-an 



306 

kings who preceded him, but prided himself upon being 
" born a Briton." 

As his grandfather and his mother were not on friendly 
terms, George III. had been brought up far from court, 
and in such quiet surroundings that he was always rather 
timid and awkward. It was only when called upon to 
make public speeches that he appeared well ; for he had 
been carefully taught this art by an instructor who proudly 
cried, after his first speech : " I taught the boy!" 

George III. was a good man, and so gentle and unas- 
suming that he is often called Farmer George. He was 
very kind to every one he met, and a better father, hus- 
band, and son has never been seen. He and his family 
were so happy and united that they were an example to 
the whole nation, and Queen Charlotte is always spoken 
of as a very good woman. 

The only great defect in the character of George III. 
was that he was narrow-minded, obstinate, and anxious to 
rule by himself. Still, the English were all very fond of 
him, and the Jacobites, seeing the worthlessness of the 
Stuarts, now became loyal subjects, and accepted public 
offices from the king. 

The Seven Years' War was still going on when George 
III. came to the throne ; but the British were tired of 
supplying money for what they called " German quarrels." 
Still, although the national debt already amounted to 
many millions, they could not make peace, for Spain had 
joined forces with France against England. 

As a result, the war was carried on in the southern as 
well as in the northern part of Europe, in the colonies, and 
on the sea. There were numerous engagements, the Brit- 



307 

ish gaining the advantage everywhere, and in 1 763 Spain 
and France were anxious for peace. In the Peace of Paris 
it was decided that almost all the French possessions in 
North America, east of the Mississippi River, should belong 
to the British, who also received Florida from Spain. 

Great Britain was now the foremost country in the 
world, having the largest colonies and the most trade. 
This prosperity was greatly owing to able ministers, among 
whom one of the best-known is Pitt. 

The war had cost a great deal of money, so heavy taxes 
were laid upon the people. Not only were these taxes 
laid upon England, the " mother country," but Parliament 
decided to impose them upon the colonies also, although 
Pitt was strongly opposed to this. The most prosperous of 
all the colonies were located in what is now known as the 
United States of America ; and these refused to be taxed 
unless they were allowed either to send members to Parlia- 
ment to protect their interests, or to decide in their colo- 
nial assemblies how much they could afford to pay. A good 
many in Parliament thought the colonists were right, and 
spoke and voted in their favour ; but the greater number 
— who did not at all represent the common people of 
England — insisted that the colonists had to obey any law 
they chose to make. They therefore began by imposing 
taxes under a law called the Stamp Act. But the Amer- 
ican colonists resisted it so strongly that Parliament with- 
drew the Stamp Act, and insisted only upon a small tax, 
laid principally upon tea. 

Now it was not unwillingness to pay the money that 
caused the colonists to resist, but it was the thought that 
the British would not allow them the same freedom as 



308 

the people of England enjoyed. First, they refused to 
buy tea; then, seeing that the British wanted to compel 
them to obey, the colonists took up arms, and at the battle 
of Lex'ing-ton, in 1775, began the Revolutionary War, 
which lasted about seven years. The American forces 
were ably led by Washington ; and the British, although 
they came over with hired German troops and won several 
victories, -were gradually compelled to yield. 

The colonies proclaimed their independence from Great 
Britain on the 4th of July, I Jj6, and were soon recognized 
as the United States of America by France, Holland, and 
Spain. In 1781 Corn-wal'lis, the British commander, 
surrendered; and Parliament, which had fancied there 
would be no great trouble in putting down the American 
rebellion, soon after had to acknowledge the independence 
of the United States. 

The great statesman Pitt, who had first opposed the 
taxation of the colonies, made his last and most brilliant 
speech to protest against their separation from the mother 
country. He was then so ill that he fainted before his 
speech was ended, and had to be carried home, where he 
soon died. His son, the Younger Pitt, who shared his 
views, was elected member of Parliament in 1780. For 
the next twenty-six years he was one of the ablest Brit- 
ish statesmen, and he too served his country nobly. 

The independence of the United States being acknowl- 
edged in England, John Adams was sent there as ambassa- 
dor; and to him George III. frankly said : " I was the last 
man in the kingdom, sir, to consent to the independence 
of America ; but now it is granted, I shall be the last man 
in the kingdom to sanction the violation of it." 



3Q9 



CIV. THE BATTLE OF THE NILE. 

THE French, who had helped the Americans fight, 
and who had been the first to recognize the inde- 
pendence of the United States, had in the meantime grown 
very much dissatisfied with the state of affairs in their own 
country. Their king, Louis XIV., had laid heavy taxes 
upon them to supply money for his wars and for his pleas- 
ures. His successor, Louis XV., did not care how much 
the people suffered, as long as he was comfortable, and 
carelessly said that after him the deluge might come. 

This selfish, hard-hearted king was followed by Louis 
XVI., a blameless and gentle monarch, who had to suffer 
for the sins of those who came before him. Seeing that 
his people were about to rebel, he made arrangements to 
have the foreign powers help him. The French found 
this out, and were so exasperated over it that they killed 
the king's guard, bore the royal family off to prison, be- 
headed Louis XVI. and his beautiful wife, and, in imitation 
of the Americans, set up a republic. 

But there were cruel and selfish men at the head of the 
French republic. They pretended that all the nobles were 
dangerous, and while they were in power they imprisoned 
and beheaded all those that they could seize. This awful 
time is known as the Reign of Terror, and Great Britain 
was first to express indignation at this behaviour and to 
refuse to recognize so barbarous a government (1793). 

With the help of other European nations war was there- 
fore begun against France. The French fleet was defeated 
by Lord Howe, but the French army soon conquered Hol- 

STO. OF E.\G. — 20 



3io 



land, which became a republic. France now wanted to do 
the same with Ireland; but the British put an end to this 
plan by the naval victories of St. Vincent and Cam'per- 




P. de Loutherbourg, Artist. 

Lord Howe's Victory. 

down. To prevent Ireland from again joining the French, 
it was united to Great Britain, and since 1801 there have 
been English, Scotch, and Irish members in both Houses 
of Parliament. Then, too, George III. gave up the empty 
title of King of France, which had been claimed by English 
kings ever since the time of Edward III. 

When the war began, France was alone against all Eu- 
rope ; but she won many allies, owing to the bravery of 
her troops and to the military genius of Na-po'le-on Bo'- 
na-parte. The Dutch helped the French at Camperdown, 
and the Spaniards lent their aid at St. Vincent. 

Napoleon, who had recovered Toulon (too-lawN') from 



3n 

the English and had become a general in the army, mean- 
while carried the war into Italy. Here he won many vic- 
tories over the Austrians, forcing them to give up the 
country to him and sign a treaty at Cam'po-for'mi-o. 

A great thinker once said that he who was master of 
Egypt would be master of the whole East. Napoleon, 
hating the English, determined to destroy their power in 
India, and set out for the Nile with an army. The battle 
of the Pyramids made him master of all Egypt, but his 
plans were spoiled by the bravery of Admiral Nelson. 
This great English hero came up with a smaller number of 
ships, and completely destroyed the French fleet (1798). 

It was in this naval encounter, the battle of Aboukir 
(ah-boo-keer'), or of the Nile, that the little son of a French 
officer named Ca-sa-bi-an'ca died an heroic death. His fa- 
ther had told him to stay at his post until called away, so 
the brave little fellow staid there, amid shot and shell, until 
the ship was all wreathed in flames. Casabianca had been 
killed in another part of the ship, but the boy, true to his 
promise, stood on the deck until the powder magazine ex- 
ploded and the vessel sank. His courage and obedience 
were so beautiful that. Mrs. Hemans wrote a poem about 
him, which you will like to read. 

After the battle of the Nile, Napoleon vainly tried to 
take Acre in Syria, but could not do so without a fleet. 
His had been destroyed by Nelson ; so, seeing that he would 
not be able to carry out his plan of fighting the English 
in India, he now suddenly decided to go back to France. 
Passing boldly through the British fleet, he escaped cap- 
ture by miracle, as it were, and, arriving in Paris, began to 
rule France, under the title of First Consul. 



312 



CV. NELSON'S LAST SIGNAL. 

A FTER Napoleon left Egypt, the British gained posses- 
f\ sion of it, and brought back to the British Museum 
the large collection of antiquities which had been gathered 
by the French men of science. 

Soon after, in 1802, a short peace was made between 
France and Great Britain at Amiens (ah-mT-aN 7 ). On this 
occasion, when Napoleon and the English statesman Fox 
met, some one pointed to a globe, and remarked that Eng- 
land occupied a very small space upon it. " Yes," retorted 
Fox, promptly ; " our island is indeed a small country — that 
island in which the Englishman is born, and in which he 
would fain that his bones should repose when he is dead. 
But," added he, advancing to the globe and spreading his 
arms round it, over both oceans and both Indies, " while 
the Englishmen live, they overspread the whole world and 
clasp it in a circle of power." 

A peace between England and France, two nations 
then so jealous of each other, could not last long. It 
was barely a year, indeed, before Napoleon reopened hos- 
tilities. In 1804, being now Emperor of the French, he 
planned to invade England. He had an army of over 
one hundred thousand men encamped at Boulogne, ready 
to cross the Channel. But how were they to be taken 
across, in the face of the vigilant Nelson and his fleet? 
Napoleon knew that all depended on that, and said : " Let 
us be masters of the Channel for six hours, and we are mas- 
ters of the world." Fortunately for England, he never 
gained this mastery of the Channel, for the French and 



313 



Spanish fleets, with which he had hoped to control it, were 
defeated by Sir Robert Calder, and soon afterwards were 
almost destroyed by Nelson in the battle of Traf-al-gar' 
(1805), one of the most famous of sea fights. 

It seems that Admiral Nelson had cornered the French 
and Spanish fleets at Cadiz. Although the enemy had 
seven vessels more than the British, Nelson took his meas- 
ures so carefully that he hoped to succeed. He finally 
bade his officers signal to the fleet these famous words : 
" England expects every man to do his duty." 

Then the men set up a deafening shout, and began the 
fight bravely. Nelson soon fell, mortally wounded ; but he 
covered up his face, lest his men, seeing he was dying, 
should lose courage. He was carried below, where he 
lived long enough to hear that the victory had been won, 
and died saying, "Thank God, I have done my duty." 




Daniel lUaclise, Artist. 



Death of Nelson. 



3'4 



This great English hero had already been in many bat- 
tles, and had won many victories. On one occasion he lost 
an eye ; on another he was shot in the arm. As none of 
the medicines now used to deaden pain were then known, 

he suffered greatly while the 
doctors were cutting off his 
arm. Having found that the 
pain was made keener because 
the instruments were cold, Nel- 
son ever after had them put 
in hot water before they were 
used on his men ; for he was as 
thoughtful of their comfort as 
he was brave. 

The glorious victory of Traf- 
algar is commemorated in Lon- 
don by Trafalgar Square, in the 
centre of which there is a tall 
column surmounted by a statue 
of Lord Nelson. The hero him- 
self is buried in Westminster 
Abbey, where England's greatest warriors, statesmen, men 
of letters, and men of science have beautiful monuments, 
as well as most of the English kings. 




Monument in Trafalgar Square. 



i>Kc 



CVI. THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO. 



AFTER the failure of his plan for crossing the Channel, 
/V Napoleon plunged into new ventures. He suddenly 
marched off to attack Austria and Russia, and won battle 



3^5 

after battle in central Europe. Then, hoping to make 
Great Britain poor, he declared that none of her vessels 
should be allowed to come into any port on the Continent, 
to buy or sell any merchandise. Of course, such an order 
made the British angry ; and when they heard that Na- 
poleon intended to seize the fleet of Denmark and use it 
against England, they bombarded Co-pen-ha'gen and seized 
the Danish ships. 

Spain and Portugal, indignant at the treatment they re- 
ceived from their French conquerors, now declared war 
against Napoleon. They asked the help of the English, 
so Wel'ling-ton, the " Iron Duke," immediately set out for 
the south. With a force of ten thousand men, he won the 
battles of Ta-la-ve'ra, Sal-a-man'ca, and Vi-to'ri-a. This 
war, which lasted from 1808 to 18 14, is generally known 
as the Peninsular War, because the principal battles were 
fought in the peninsula formed by Spain and Portugal. 

Although it seemed as if Great Britain had already 
enough to do in fighting the greater part of Europe, she 
was soon called upon to fight against the United States 
also. In this War of 18 12, about which you can learn in 
your American histories, King George took no interest ; 
for he was now both blind and insane, and his son George 
was acting as regent in his stead. 

Napoleon, having failed to conquer Russia, was obliged 
to face all the European powers. They defeated him at 
the battle of Leip'zig, or the " Battle of Nations," in 18 13, 
and drove him back to France, w r here, in 18 14, they forced 
him to give up the crown to Louis XVIII., a brother of 
the beheaded Louis XVI. Napoleon was then sent to the 
island of Elba, in the Mediterranean Sea. But while the 




s 



(316) 



317 

different nations were assembled at Vi-en'na, trying to de- 
cide how to divide his conquests, he suddenly escaped. 
Landing in France, he was joined by a large force, and 
for nearly one hundred days was again supreme. 

The European powers, however, were determined not 
to allow him to reign long, and prepared for war. The 
British under Wellington, and the Prussians under Blii'cher, 
were first in the field. Napoleon met them at Wa-ter-loo' 
( 1 8 1 5), and there, in spite of all his genius and the great 
courage of his soldiers, he was completely defeated. 

" It is all over ; we must save ourselves," said Napoleon, 
who had been in the midst of the fight, but was still un- 
wounded. He was right ; all was indeed over for him. 
He went back to Paris, and thence to Rochefort (rosh-for'), 
intending to escape to America. But the British fleet 
blocked the port; and, being assured of honourable treat- 
ment, he went on board the Bcl-ler'o-pJion. 

Napoleon had been so dangerous a foe that, in spite 
of all the promises made to him, the British rulers finally 
decided that it would be best to exile him to the island of 
St. He-le'na. Here, in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, 
closely watched by soldiers who allowed him no privacy, 
Napoleon spent six lonely years. He died of a painful 
disease in 1821, and the British vessels which had cruised 
around the island to prevent his escape then returned home. 

It will probably interest you to hear that it was Wel- 
lington, the victor of Waterloo, who put an end to duelling 
in the army, by telling his soldiers that it was far more 
cowardly to accept a challenge than to refuse one. Since 
then, British soldiers have ceased to fight, except when in 
the presence of the enemy. 




(3i») 



319 



CVII. THE FIRST GENTLEMAN IN EUROPE. 

EVEN before Napoleon surrendered, the British and 
Prussian armies marched on to Paris, where they 
were joined by the Austrians and Russians, and placed 
Louis XVIII. again upon the throne. The war was now 
ended ; but the British national debt was larger than ever, 
and the heavy taxes caused great discontent. 

Besides, the regent was very extravagant, and spent 
such large sums of money upon his pleasures that the poor 
people began to be very indignant. They were especially 
angry because, owing to the corn laws, — laws that almost 
prevented the bringing in of grain from abroad, — they 
could not themselves get enough to eat. The regent had 
also treated his wife so unkindly that his unfeeling conduct 
had greatly added to his unpopularity. Still, when George 
III. died, at the age of eighty- two, after a reign of nearly 
sixty years, his son quietly succeeded him as George IV. 

George IV. was handsome, well educated, and had such 
elegant manners that his courtiers called him the " First 
Gentleman in Europe." But he was a gentleman only in 
outward appearance. He is regarded as one of the worst 
of the English kings, because he never tried to do what he 
knew to be right, and because he was very selfish. 

Fortunately for the English nation, he had two very 
able ministers, Peel and Canning, who had charge of pub- 
lic affairs during much of his ten years' reign. They op- 
posed him when he tried to get a divorce from his ill-used 
wife, Caroline, and gradually brought about many impor- 
tant improvements in the laws. 



320 

For instance, Parliament changed a law which had been 
in force ever since the time of Charles II., and justly de- 
cided that Roman Catholics as well as Protestants should 
be allowed to have seats in Parliament and to hold office. 
This was demanded by the Irish, who had chosen one of 
their great men, O'Connell, as a member of Parliament. 
This new law, which is called the Catholic Emancipation 
Act, was soon followed by others ; for the British were 
tired of old abuses, and the time, or era, of reform had 
begun. 

During this reign, the British, who were now the first 
naval power in the world, joined France and Russia in 
protecting the Greeks from the Turks, and helped win the 
famous battle of Na-va-ri'no (1827). Byron, one of the 
great English poets, took part in this Greek war. But he 
fell ill of fever at Mis-so-lon'ghi, and died before he had 
been able to do much for the country which he loved be- 
cause it was once the home of many heroes, and of the great 
poets of antiquity. 

CVIII. THE CHILDHOOD OF QUEEN VICTORIA. 

GEORGE IV. left no children, so his crown passed 
on to his brother, William IV. As he was once in 
the navy, he is often called the " Sailor King." He was a 
good and able man, although somewhat rough in manner, 
and he was much liked because he was in favour of reform. 
During his short reign England prospered greatly. With 
the building of the first English railway, in 1830, the way 
was opened for making travel much more rapid and easy. 



32 1 

A change was also made in the mode of elections, and when 
a new House of Commons assembled, there were members 
from all parts of the country, and all the nation was at last 
fairly represented. 

By the efforts of a man named WiTber-force, slavery was 
abolished in the colonies. Parliament also made many 
laws in favour of the poor, and reduced the rate of letter 
postage. 

William IV. and good Queen Adelaide had no children, 
so their niece Victoria was considered the future Queen 
of Great Britain. But the crown of Hanover, which had 
been worn by five kings of England, could not be inherited 
by a woman ; so when William IV. died, his youngest 
brother, Ernest, became King of Hanover. This separa- 
tion of the two kingdoms pleased the British, because the 
possession of land in Germany had often forced them to 
take more part than they wished in European wars, and 
had thus put them to great expense. 

From early childhood Victoria was educated for the 
great position she was to occupy, and taught to be consci- 
entious, kind, and affable to all. She was a happy little 
girl, although her father died when she was a mere baby, 
for she was constantly with her mother, the Duchess of 
Kent, a very good woman. 

No one was allowed to tell Victoria that she might some 
day be queen, and she was brought up very plainly. We 
are told that she had a small allowance, and that she had 
to keep strict account of every penny she spent. Every 
one was forbidden to give or lend her any money, so that 
when she wanted to buy something, she had to wait and 
save up, if her allowance was already gone. 



322 

One day when she was out with her governess, she saw 
a doll which pleased her much, and she felt badly because 
she could not buy it at once. The shopkeeper, however, 
put it aside for her ; and as soon as Victoria had saved up 
enough money, she hastened to the place to secure the 
coveted treasure. But as she stepped out of the shop, a 
poor woman begged her for something to eat. Victoria, 
whose money was all gone, hesitated a moment ; then, turn- 
ing around, she begged the merchant to take back the 
doll and give her her money, which she immediately be- 
stowed upon the starving woman. 

When Victoria was about twelve years old, her mother 
thought it was time that she should be told that she was 
heir to the crown. So her teacher made her trace a 
genealogical table of the kings of England, such as you 
will find at the end of this book. The little girl finally 
came to her uncles, and then, looking up, said that she 
could not see who should come after her uncle William, 
unless it were she. 

Her mother gently told her she was right, and after a 
few moments' deep silence and thought, little Victoria 
slipped her hand into her mother's, and solemnly said : " I 
will be good." This resolution, made by so small a girl, has 
been faithfully kept. She has been a good daughter, a 
good pupil, a good wife, a good mother, a good queen, and, 
what is best of all, a thoroughly good woman. 

At five o'clock in the morning, on a beautiful June day 
in 1837, Victoria was roused from her slumbers to receive 
the visit of the ministers of state. After a very hasty 
toilet, she went into the room where they were, and these 
grave men humbly bent the knee before her, calling her 



their queen. Although only eighteen years old, Victoria 
received their homage gently and with great dignity, and 
made them a little speech, in which she expressed her sor- 
row for her uncle's death, and her earnest desire to rule 
her people wisely. 

Ever since that day, although Queen Victoria has stood 
alone, the observed of all observers, she has proved so 
good and earnest that she has won the respect of all the 
civilized world. 

CIX. THE QUEEN'S MARRIAGE. 

WHEN Victoria became queen, every one felt a 
tender interest in the young girl who was thus 
called upon to stand at the head of a great nation. Her 
coronation, which took place on June 28, 1838, was one 
of the grandest sights London has ever seen. She was 
crowned at Westminster Abbey, in the midst of the peers 
of the realm, who came up to do homage to her. Each 
one in turn bent the knee before her, and, removing his 
coronet, touched the queen's crown, saying, " I do become 
your liegeman of life and limb and of earthly worship; 
and faith and love will I bear unto you to live and die 
against all manner of folk. So help me God." 

Even there, at the coronation, the young queen showed 
how kind-hearted she was ; for when a very aged peer 
stumbled and fell, she stretched out her hand to help him 
rise, and came down a few steps so that he need not exert 
himself too much to reach her. 

Now you may think it is great fun to be a queen, but 



324 

it is really hard work. From the very first, Queen Victoria 
spent many hours every day going over state papers with 
her ministers, who carefully explained everything to her. 
This was far more tedious for a young girl than any lesson 
could be ; for many things were difficult to understand, 
and all the papers were very dry. 

The queen's first minister and her good friend was Lord 
Merbourne, who took a fatherly interest in her, and who 
once said of her: " She never ceases to be a queen, and is 
always the most charming, cheerful, obliging, and unaffected 
queen in the world." 

It was while this minister was helping her to govern that 
a long-planned marriage was arranged between Victoria 
(the " little Mayflower," as her German relatives called 
her) and Prince Albert of Saxe-Co'burg-Gotha (go'ta). 
Victoria being a queen, and Albert only a prince, she was 
told that it would not be proper for him to propose to her. 
She therefore had to propose to him ; and she once said 
that it was the hardest thing she ever had to do. 

Next, she had to appear alone before Parliament, to tell 
the House of Lords (which now numbers about 575 mem- 
bers) and the House of Commons (670 members) what she 
intended to do, and to receive their good wishes. This too 
was a great trial for so young a girl, but she never had 
cause to regret it, for her marriage was very happy. 

Queen Victoria and the Prince Consort (for so he was 
later called) were a most devoted couple, and they lived 
a quiet, beautiful, happy, and exemplary life. Not only 
was the Prince Consort a good man, but he was wise and 
well educated, and so modest and unselfish that all he ever 
asked was to help the queen and her people. 



325 

During the following years many changes took place in 
the royal family, where nine children played in turn in the 
royal nursery. Changes were going on elsewhere too ; for 
since Victoria had come to the throne, among countless 
other improvements, there had been established the first 
penny post, the telegraph, and the Atlantic cable. 

To show the people how many new inventions had been 
made, and what wonderful things the world contains, the 
Prince Consort planned the first " world's fair," or " peace 
festival." It was held in the Crystal Palace, near London, 
and was such a success that it has been followed by many 
others in different parts of the world. These fairs have 
been a great help in educating people everywhere, by giv- 
ing them new and useful ideas. 

You will probably often hear it said that Queen Victoria 
is only a figurehead, and has nothing to do with the gov- 
ernment, which is carried on by Parliament and her Cabinet. 
This, however, is not true ; for while Great Britain is a 
constitutional monarchy, that is to say, a kingdom ruled 
by the laws of the land, and the queen could not do any- 
thing against the law, she can do much with it. Although 
Victoria is not a genius, she is so well educated and pains- 
taking that it is she who has often suggested many of the 
improvements which have taken place. 

In the government she has had many prime ministers 
besides Lord Melbourne; for you must know that her 
ministers resign their office just as soon as the greater 
part of Parliament does not approve of what they propose 
to do. Then the queen asks the principal man in the op- 
position party to be her minister and to select men for a 
new Cabinet. These members stay in office just as long 

STO. OF ENG.— 21 



326 



as the prime minister has the good will of the House of 
Commons ; but when he goes, they go too. 

The queen's ministers have been these noted men : Mel- 
bourne, Peel, Russell, Derby, Ab-er-deen', Palm'er-ston, 




Gladstone. 



Gladstone (the Grand Old Man), Dis-rae'li (Lord Beac- 
ons-field), Salisbury, and Rose'ber-y. These ministers 
have little by little brought about many reforms, among 
which is a law allowing Jews to be members of both houses 
of Parliament. Another says that the Irish people need 
no longer pay taxes for the support of the Church of Eng- 
land, which so few of them attend. 



327 



CX. SOME WARS IN VICTORIA'S REIGN. 

IF you were to hear all the great and important things 
which have happened during this, the longest and most 
glorious reign in English history, it would take a very long 
time and a much bigger volume than this is now to tell 
you about them. There have been so many great artists, 
writers, scientists, statesmen, inventors, and discoverers 
that the last half of the nineteenth century is often called 
the Victorian Age. 

Since Victoria has been on the throne of Great Britain, 
there have been many disturbances. When she began her 
reign, the people who had been suffering from hunger 
wanted some of the laws changed. The reformers got up 
a charter, which they said had been signed by five million 
people, and, marching into London, they rolled it into Par- 
liament in a tub. 

The demands of the Chartists, as the charter-signers 
were called, frightened the people, and many took upon 
themselves the office of policeman to keep the mob in order. 
The changes the Chartists had asked for, although not 
granted then, were gradually brought about by a few great 
statesmen, such as the ministers already named, and Wil- 
berforce, Brougham (broo'am), Cobden, and Bright. 

Changes were made in corn, navigation, and trade laws; 
for Great Britain now has free trade ; that is, goods are 
brought into the country without the payment of duty. 

Queen Victoria has always taken a lively interest in all 
state matters, and has in many cases felt sorry for the 
numerous wars fought during her reign. Among these 



328 

are several wars in Af-ghan-is-tan', fought either against 
the natives or against the Russians, who quarrelled with 
the British about the frontier. 

Then there have been a number of wars with the Chi- 
nese. The first of these wars is, I am sorry to say, not to 
the credit of the British ; for they forced the Chinese to 
let them have the island of Hong Kong, so as to sell all the 
opium they wanted to the natives, for whom it is even 
worse than rum. In another war, an English general, who 
is generally known as " Chinese Gordon," put down a 
Chinese rebellion, and in reward received from the emperor 
a mandarin's yellow gown and some gay peacock feathers, 
these being among the Chinese, like the Order of the 
Garter among the English, a mark of especial honour. 

In India the British waged two wars against the Sikhs 
(seeks), defeated them, and took possession of their ter- 
ritory, the Punjab (pobn-jahb'). Next they fought against 
the Burmese, and took possession of Lower Burma. In 
1857 broke out the terrible "Indian Mutiny," or the re- 
volt of the sepoys. These sepoys were native soldiers who 
had been trained to fight by British officers. When new 
rifles were introduced, and they had to use greased car- 
tridges, the sepoys fancied that the British wanted to make 
them do what their religion forbade ; that is to say, touch 
grease taken from their sacred animal, the cow, or from the 
hog, an animal the least contact with which, they fancied, 
made them unfit to enter heaven. 

The officers tried to pacify the men by telling them that 
they could either grease the cartridges themselves with 
anything they pleased, or use other guns ; but it was too 
late. The revolt spread from Mee'rut to Delhi (deriee), 



329 



Cawn-pore', and Luck'now. Everywhere the British were 
killed without mercy, and at Cawnpore men, women, and 
children were cruelly butchered and cast into a well, after 
they had heroically defended themselves for many a day. 




Memorial Well, Cawnpore. 

A brave general named Hav'e-lock fought like a tiger to 
reach Cawnpore in time to save his countrymen ; but he 
got there too late. In spite of the awful heat, he next 
hurried on to Lucknow, where he found the English still 
alive. But there were so many women and children that 
he could not fight his way out with them. He therefore 
joined them in their heroic resistance, which was kept up 



330 



until a brave Scotchman named Campbell came marching 
to the rescue, just as one of the women had dreamed. 

When the English heard the Scotch bagpipes in the dis- 
tance, playing "The Campbells are Coming," they almost 
died of joy. Lucknow was relieved ; but Havelock, worn 




F. Goodall, Artist 



Relief of Lucknow — Jessie's Dream. 



out by his heroic exertions, soon breathed his last. The 
mutiny was put down, and India was taken away from the 
East India Company and placed under the rule of the queen. 
Since then there have been a few other revolts, which 
have quickly been put down. But railways, telegraphs, 
schools, and colleges are making rapid changes in India, 
where there are more than two hundred million people, 
speaking many different languages, practising many reli- 
gions, but all subject to Victoria, who was crowned Empress 
of India in 1877. 



33i 



Great Britain also fought one war in Europe, against 
Russia — a war of which you will hear a great deal. It is 
called the " Cri-me'an War," and it was during this contest 
that, owing to a mistaken order, the Light Brigade made 
the gallant charge at Bal-a-klaVa (1854). Their prompt 
obedience, their courage, and the death of nearly the whole 




Robert Gibb, Artist. 

"The Thin Red Line "—93d Highlanders at Balaklava. 



company, have made them for ever famous. If you want 
to hear what dangers they braved, you had better read 
Tennyson's poem, " The Charge of the Light Brigade," 
and then you will see why every one admires them. 

While the British soldiers were making their names 
famous in the Crimean War, an Englishwoman, Florence 
Nightingale, nursed the sick and the dying with such de- 
votion that the men kissed her shadow on the wall as she 
passed by. Thanks to her exertions, and to those of the 
kind nurses whom she directed, many lives were saved, 
and since then hospitals for wounded soldiers have been 
much improved, 




7IP7 




Zi) Long. 40 



100 from 120 



HO Green w. 160 



334 



CXI. THE JUBILEE. 

GREAT BRITAIN'S wars in Africa have been nu- 
merous, for she has fought, north, south, east, and 
west, against many of the small tribes ; and a large part of 
that continent is now under her rule. In one of these wars 
the French prince imperial, son of Napoleon III., was killed 
by the Zu'lus ; in another brave " Chinese Gordon " fell 
at Khar-turn'; and on his way to a third, the Prince of 
Bat'ten-berg, Victoria's son-in-law, lost his life from fever. 

During the Civil War in America, in 1861, England 
and the United States pretty nearly came to blows ; but 
a kindly message, suggested by the dying Prince Consort, 
and a prompt and graceful apology on the part of the 
United States, averted this catastrophe. Later on, when 
other disputes occurred between the two nations, they were 
settled by arbitration, which is always the best method for 
civilized people to adopt as a means of settling disputes. 

By all the wars which you have just read about, and 
by sundry others which we need not mention here, Great 
Britain has spread her territory farther and farther, and 
grown stronger and stronger. She has also planted many 
colonies without having to fight great battles, the most 
prosperous of these being in Australia, where gold was 
discovered in 1851. About one quarter of all the people 
on the globe now belong to Great Britain, for Victoria is 
said to rule over nearly four hundred million subjects. 

The queen married in 1840, and had nine children. A 
careful mother, she watched over her children herself, 
praising them when they did right, correcting them when 



335 

they did wrong, and always giving them clearly to under- 
stand that their exalted position demanded that they should 
set a good example to others. 

One day the queen went out with the princess royal, 
her eldest daughter, to review some troops. Perhaps she 
was going to bestow " Victoria crosses," which are the 
medals given to soldiers or sailors for some of the brave 
deeds such as we love to hear about. The queen's carriage 
was escorted, as usual, by the magnificent Horse Guards, 
who stood a short distance off as if they were statues. But 
although they were so motionless, each man's eyes were 
fixed upon the royal carriage, and all were ready, at a 
mere sign, to spring forward to render any service. 

Either to show her importance, or to attract the attention 
of the handsome guardsmen, or from a spirit of mischief, 
the princess royal, after dangling her handkerchief for a 
few moments over the side of the carriage, dropped it as 
if by accident. As it fluttered to the ground the guards- 
men rushed forward to pick it up. But the queen, who 
had noticed her daughter's manoeuvres, and who knew she 
had let her handkerchief fall intentionally, motioned the 
guards back to their post. 

Then, turning to the princess royal, she bade her get 
out of the carriage and pick up her handkerchief herself, 
since she had dropped it only to give trouble. In the sight 
of guardsmen, troops, and the assembled crowd, " Vicky," 
as her parents affectionately called her, was obliged to wait 
upon herself. And you may be sure that this wholesome 
lesson, and the queen's explanation that it was vulgar to 
try to attract attention, made a deep impression on the 
princess, who later became Empress of Germany. 



336 

After the marriage of this daughter, and after a happy 
married life of more than twenty years, the Prince Consort, 
who had always worked very hard for his wife's subjects, 
fell suddenly and dangerously ill. In spite of the utmost 
care and skill, he sank rapidly, and died in the queen's 
arms, whispering loving words to her. 

Prince Albert was such a good and noble man that he 
was mourned by the whole people. They erected a beau- 
tiful public monument for him in London, the Albert 
Memorial, while his sorrowing wife and children put up 
a private tomb for him at Frogmore. 

Victoria's children have all married, and nearly all of 
them now have large families. , Her eldest son, the Prince 
of Wales, is named Albert Edward. The queen, who is by 
this time a great-grandmother, is related to nearly all the 
crowned heads in Europe, and while one of her grandsons 
is Emperor of Germany, one of her granddaughters is 
Czarina of Russia. 

Victoria has led a very quiet and retired life ever since 
the death of the Prince Consort. She lives part of the time 
in London or Windsor, where she has beautiful palaces. 
The rest of her time is spent in her seaside home at 
Osborne in the Isle of Wight, in her mountain home at 
Bal-mor'al in the Scottish Highlands, or in travelling. 

Victoria is always busy and is always striving faithfully 
to do her best for her people. When state affairs do not 
need her attention, she reads, writes, sews, and studies. 
When she was younger she used to practise on the piano, 
sing, and draw. And in spite of the fact that she already 
knew several languages, we are told that, although nearly 
sixty years old when she became Empress of India, she 



337 



began to study Hin-doo-sta'nee, so that she could talk in 
their own language to her Indian servants and visitors. 

In 1887 Queen Victoria celebrated her " jubilee," or the 
fiftieth anniversary of her reign. In 1897 another impos- 
ing pageant took place to commemorate the longest and 




Albert Edward, Prince erf Wales. 



most prosperous reign of the best sovereign that England 
has ever seen. There was a magnificent procession, and 
the queen heard the Te Deum sung in the big square 
before St. Paul's Cathedral ; for there was no church big 
enough to contain the many important people who came 



338 

to do her honour. There were princes and troops from 
every country, and in the huge crowd were many Ameri- 
can children, who, remembering how good the queen has 
always been, joined the British in crying: 
" God bless Queen Victoria!" 



GENEALOGICAL TABLE AND INDEX 



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- 



THE SOVEREIGNS OF ENGLAND. 



First, William the Norman, 

Then William his son ; 
Henry, Stephen, and Henry, 

Then Richard and John. 
Next, Henry the third, 

Edwards, one, two, and three, 
And again, after Richard, 

Three Henrys we see. 
Two Edwards, third Richard, 

If rightly I guess ; 
Two Henrys, sixth Edward, 

Queen Mary, Queen Bess; 
Then Jamie the Scotchman, 

Then Charles whom they slew, 
Yet received, after Cromwell, 

Another Charles, too. 
Next Jamie the second 

Ascended the throne ; 
Then good William and Mary 

Together came on ; 
Then Anne, Georges four, 

And fourth William all passed, 
And Victoria came — 

May she long be the last ! 

2d2 



INDEX. 



Key to pronunciation.— Vowels : a in late, & in fat, a in care, a in far, a in last, a in 
fall, a in was, au in author ; e in me, e in met, e in veil, e in term ; T in fine, I in tin, i in 
police ; 6 in note, 6 in not, 6 in son, 6 in for, o in wolf, o in do, oo in loop ; u in tune, ii 
in nut, u in rude, u in full, ii = French u ; y in my, y in hymn. CONSONANTS : c in cent, 
€ in ean ; g in gem, g in get, G or K = German ch ; ii = ny in barnyard, n = ng, N = ng 
but is silent ; § = z. Italic letters are silent. 



PAGE 

Ab'bess, head of nunnery 58 

Ab'bot, head of monastery 57 

Ab-er-deen', prime minister .... 326 

A-boK-kir', battle of 311 

A-ca'di-a, relinquished by French . . 295 
Ac-co-lade', bestowing the .... 1G1 

A'cre (a'ker), Napoleon at 311 

Richard I. attacks 107-109 

Act of Set'tle-ment 287 

Ad'anis, John, ambassador to England 308 

Ad'di-son, English writer 295 

Ad'e-laide, wife of William IV. . . . 321 
Ad-ri-at'ic Sea, Richard I. on ... Ill 
JSl'la (al'a), captured by Northmen . 45 

head of Heptarchy 44 

Af-gAan-is-tan', wars in 328 

Africa, wars in 334 

Agincourt (ii-zh&N-koor), battle of . 181 
Aix-la-Chii-peUe', peace of . . 299, 300 
Al'bert Edward, Prince of Wales . . 336 
Albert of Saxe-C6'burg-G6'tAa, death of 336 

marries Victoria 324, 325 

Al'bi on, England called 13 

Alencon (Ji-16N-s6N'), Duke of . 236, 244 
Alfred, King, conquers Danes . . 49, 50 

death of 52 

education of 46, 47 

in the herdsman's hut .... 48, 49 

invents first lantern 51 

Alfred, son of Ethelred 68 

Al'va, Duke of 244 

Amiens (a-ml-aN'), treaty of . . . .312 
An'ge-vlne kings. See Plantagenets. 
An'gles, settle in Britain . . . . 33, 34 
An'gle-sey, Druids settle in .... 18 
Suetonius attacks Druids in . . . 24 



PAGE 

An'gli-a, kingdom formed by Angles . 34 
Anglican Church. See Church of England. 

Anglo- Sax'ons 31-76 

conversion of 39 

Heptarchy 36 

laws and language of . 33, 34, 36-38, 78 

names of days of week 33 

An'laf, Danish leader 53, 54 

Anne, wife of Richard II. . . . 170, 172 
Anne of Clev<?§, marries Henry VIII. 

218, 219 
Anne, Queen, daughter of James II. . 282 

age of literature 295 

death of 296 

marries Prince George of Denmark . 291 
An'selm, Archbishop of Canterbury . 88 

An-to-ni'nus, wall of 26 

Ar'a-bic numbers, introduced ... 52 

Ar-gyle', Duke of 284 

Ar'mour, description of 89, 90 

Ar-suf, Richard victorious at . . . .110 
Arthur, King, defeats Saxons . . 34, 35 

tales of 35, 36 

Arthur, nephew of John . . . 117,118 

Arthur, son of Henry VII 205 

As'ca-lon, fortifications rebuilt . . . 110 

As'e^am, Elizabeth's tutor 234 

As-san'dun, battle of 64 

As-sas'sins, tribe of 109 

Ath'el-stan the Glorious, Saxon king, 

reign of 53, 54 

At -lan'tic cable, laid 325 

At'ti-la, invasion of 28 

Aus-tra'li-a, British colonies in . . . 334 

Ans'tri-a, Duke of 108-110 

Austrian Suc-ces'sion, War of . . . 299 



343 



344 



PAGE 

Aus'tri-ans, Napoleon conquers . 311, 314 
Av'a-lon, home of fairies 35 

Bab'ing-ton, conspiracy of 243 

Ba'con, Lord Francis 259 

Bacon, Roger, discoveries of ... . 128 
Bal-a-kla'va, Light Brigade at . . . 331 
Ba'li-ol, Edward, Scottish king . . .152 
Baliol, John, claims Scottish throne . 137 

Ball, John, leads mob 168 

Bal'lad of Chev'y Chase 171 

Bal-mor'al, Queen Victoria's residence, 336 

Bal'tic Sea 31 

Bank of England, established . . .291 

Ban'nock-burn 145 

Bare'bone, Praise-God 272 

Bar'net, Yorkist victory at 194 

Bar'ons, draw up Magna Charta . . .122 

join Prince Edward 127 

power of 80 

ravages of 97 

revolt of 147, 148 

Bat'ten-berG, Prince of 334 

Battle of Nations 315 

Battle of the Spurs 206 

Battle of the Stand'ard 94 

Ba-va'ri-a,inWarofAustrianSuccession, 299 

Ba-yewa;' tapestry 76 

Beach'y Head, battle of 289 

B6rtc'ons-field, Lord, prime minister . 326 

Beau'fort, Cardinal 187 

Beck'et, Thomas a, Archbishop of 

Canterbury 100 

chancellor 99 

murdered 102 

quarrel with Henry II 101 

shrine of St. Thomas 103 

Bed'ford, Duke of, death of .... 186 

regent of France 183, 184 

Ben-gal', war in 303-305 

Be-ren-ga'ri-a, wife of Richard I. . . 107 
Berkeley Castle, Edward II. murdered 

in 149 

Ber'tha, wife of Ethelbert 38 

Berwick, taken 146 

Bible, divided into verses and chapters, 120 

King James's 254 

translated into English 170 

Bir'nam woods 73 

Black death, ravages of 159 

Black Hole of Calcutta 304 

Black Prince, death of 163 

inGuienne 162 

wins battle of Cr6cy .... 154, 155 

Blake, Admiral 271, 272 

Blen'helm, battle of 292 



PAGE 

Blenheim Castle 293 

Blon-del', finds Richard 1 112 

Bloody As-sl'zes 285 

Blu'cher (Ger), Prussian general . . 317 

Bo-ad-i-ce'a 24, 25 

Bo-he'mi-a, King of, at Crdcy . . . 155 
Bol'eyn, Anne, Henry VIII. marries . 215 
sent to Tower and executed . . 217, 218 
Bol'ing-broke. See Henry IV. 
Bom-bay', English property . . 278, 303 
Bordeaux (bor-do'), Black Prince at . 162 

B6s'co-bel, Charles II. at 270 

B5§'worth, battle of 201 

Both'well, Earl of 240, 241 

liou-logiie' , acquired by English . . . 221 

French army at 312 

Bourges (boorzh), King of 184 

Bom- vines', English defeat at . . . 120 

Boyne, battle of the 289 

Breime-viUe', battle of 89 

Bretigny (brg-ten-yi'), treaty of . . . 163 

Bret'wal-da 36 

Bright, English statesman .... 327 

Bvis'tol, besieged 149 

Matilda besieged at 94 

Bri-tan'ni-a, Latin name for England . 22 

Brit'ons, adopt Christianity .... 26 

conquered by Romans . . .22, 23, 25 

driven from England . . . .32, 33, 35 

religious customs of 18, 19 

settle in England 17 

Brit'tan-y, Britons settle in .... 35 

opposed to John 117, 118 

Brittany, Duke of, joins Henry IV. . 173 

Bronze Age, defined 12 

BTOugh'am, English statesman . . . 327 

Bruce, David, defeat of 157 

Bruce, Robert, and the spider . 143, 144 

claims Scottish throne 137 

crowned 140 

death of 152 

escapes 139 

King of Scotland 146 

signs treaty with Edward III. . . 151 

victorious 144, 145 

Bru'nkn-burG/*, battle of 54 

Buckingham, Gloucester's friend . . 198 

executed 200 

Buckingham, Duke of (Steenie) . . .259 

adviser of Charles 1 261 

murdered 261 

Bur'gun-dy, Duchess of, helps Warbeck 204 

Burgundy, Duke of 180 

Bw'Mgh, chief minister of Queen Eliza- 
beth 233, 235 

death of 250 



345 



PAGE 

Bur'ina, conquered 328 

By'ron, Lord, death of 320 

Ca-bal', the 281 

Cab'i-net, the 326 

Cab'ot, discovers Newfoundland . . 205 

Cade, Jack, rebel 188, 189 

Ca'diz, Francis Drake at 245 

French and Spanish fleets at . . . 313 

Spanish fleet at 244 

€a6d'mon, story of 41 

Caer-le'on, King Arthur's palace at . 36 
Crte'gar, Jul'ius, in Britain . . . 21, 22 

Ca-laiV, capture of 156, 157 

Henry VIII. meets Francis at . . . 210 
sole English possession in France . 186 

Spanish Armada at 245 

taken by French 232 

Cal-cut'ta, captured 303, 304 

Cal'der, Sir Robert 313 

Cal-e-do'ni-a, Scotland called .... 27 

Cal'en-dar, change in 305 

Camp'&ell, relieves Lucknow .... 330 
Campbells, murder MacDoualds . . 288 

Cam'per-down, battle of 310 

Cam'po-for'mi'-o, treaty of 311 

Can'ning, English minister .... 319 

Can'non, first used 155 

Ca-no'va, sculptor 301 

Can'ter-bur-y Cathedral . . 39, 40, 164 

Ca-nute', Danish king 64 

and the waves 65, 66 

death of 67 

King of England 65 

Ca-rac'ta-cus, leader of Britons ... 23 
Car'diff Castle, Robert imprisoned in . 89 

Car-lisle', Edward I. at 140 

Car-nar'von, Castle of 132 

Car'o-line, wife of George IV 319 

Carr, James I.'s favourite . . . 256, 258 

Ca-ga-bi-an'ca, story of 311 

Cas-si-tfir'i-deg, Tin Islands .... 20 
Cas-si-vel-lau'nus, leader of Britons . 22 
Castile', throne of, secured by Lancas- 
ter 171 

Cath'er-Ine, wife of Henry V 183 

Catherine of Ar'a-gon, divorced . 215, 237 

marries Henry VIII 206 

marries Prime Arthur 205 

Catherine of Bra-gan'za, wife of Charles 

II 278 

Cath'6-lic Emancipation Act .... 320 
Catholics, Roman, favoured by Charles 

II 281, 282 

favoured by James II 285 

in Ireland 288 



PAGE 
Catholics, Roman, in Parliament . . 320 

in Scotland 224 

opposed to Wyclif 171 

plots Of ... . 242. 252, 253, 254, 255 
refuse oalh of supremacy .... 216 

set sail for America 263 

trouble with Charles 1 261 

under Elizabeth 237, 244 

under Mary 228, 230 

Cav-a-herg' and Roundheads, 264, 265, 270 

Cawn-pdre', revolt in 329 

Cax'ton, introduces printing .... 196 

Celts, in England 14-18 

Chalons (sha-loN'), Little Battle of . . 129 

Cha-lus', Lord of, besieged 116 

Char'ing Cross, erected 136 

Charles I. of England, character, 260, 261 
consents to Petition of Right . . . 261 

executed 268 

rules without Parliament .... 262 

tried as traitor 266, 267 

wages war with Parliament . . . 265 
Charles II., appeals to Parliament . . 267 

character 282 

crowned 276 

death of 282 

flight of 270, 271 

in Scotland 269 

marriage of 278 

policy of 277 

sells Dunkirk to French 280 

Charles V. of Spain and Holland . . 207 

alliance with Henry VIII 210 

Charles VII. of France .... 184-186 
Charles Edward, Prince . . . 299, 300 
ghar'lotte, wife of George III. . . .306 

Chartists, demands of 327 

Chau'cer, English author 164 

Ches'ter, Roman camp at 25 

Clu-nege', wars with 328 

Chiv'al-ry, age of 159-161, 194 

Church of England, in Charles I.'s reign 263 

Irish not taxed for 326 

James I. favours 252 

James II. promises to support . . . 284 

restored 277 

the national church 233 

under William and Mary .... 288 

Churches, built 39, 40, 69 

destroyed by Danes 45 

founded in Ireland 31 

Church'ill, Lady 293 

Churls, duties of 36 

Civ'il War, in America 334 

in England .... 94, 124, 125, 265 
Clar'ence, George, Duke of . 191, 193-195 



346 



PAGE 

Ciar'en-don, Earl of 277 

exiled 281 

Clau'di-ns, releases Caractacus ... 23 

sends legions to Britain 22 

Clav'er-ftouse, commander 277 

Clive, Robert 304 

Cob'den, English statesman .... 327 

Cob'/iam, Lord, burned ...... 180 

Col'o-nies, American, proclaim inde- 
pendence 308 

taxation in 307 

Colonies, British .... 307, 332-334 
Co-lum'bus, discovers America . . . 205 
Com'merce, encouraged .... 203, 257 
Com'mon-wealth, the ... 269, 271-275 
Compiegne (coN-pyafi'), Joan of Arc at, 185 

COm'yn, killed 140 

Con-sti-tu'tions of Clarendon .... 99 

Becket opposes .101 

Con'vents 58 

Co-pen-ha' gen, bombarded 315 

Corfe Castle, Edward murdered at . . 61 

Corn laws 319, 327 

Corn'wall, Britons in ....... 32 

tin mines in 20 

Corn-wal'lis, surrenders 308 

Cor-o-na'tion stone of Scotland . . . 138 
C6r'yat, traveller ...... 257, 258 

Cov'e-nant, the Scottish . . „ 263, 269, 277 
Cov'en-try, Leofric, Lord of .... 71 

Cran'mer, Archbishop of Canterbury . 215 
arranges Book of Common Prayer . 223 
burned at stake ........ 231 

character 220 

Cr<5cy (cra-se'), battle of . . . 153-155 

Cri-me'an War 331 

Crom'well, Oliver, and Charles I. . .266 

death of 275 

Protector of Commonwealth . 272-274 

Puritan leader 264, 265 

victory of Dunbar 269 

Cromwell, Richard, son of Oliver, 275, 276 
Cromwell, Thomas, and Henry VIII. 

218, 219 

Cru-sade', first 86 

Prince Edward joins last . . . .128 

Richard joins third .... 105, 107 

Cul-lo'den, battle of ...... 300 

Cum'ber-land, Duke of 301 

Cum'bri-a, conquered by Edmund . . 55 

Cur'fewbell 81 

Cy'prus, Richard captures 107 

Dane'geld, Danes' money 64 

payment of, stopped 69 



PAGE 

Dane'lagh . 45 

Danes restricted to 50 

Danes., at war with Saxons, 44, 45, 47, 54 

conquered at Ethandun 50 

defeated at Stamford Bridge ... 75 

defeated by Edward 55 

invade England 64, 74 

ravages of 42, 44 

Dan'ish kings . . . . . . . 64, 67, 68 

Danish ships, seized 315 

Darn'ley, Lord 238, 240 

Dauphin 184 

Da'vid of Scotland, invades England . 93 
David, successor of Robert Bruce . . 152 

taken prisoner 157 

David, Welsh leader 131, 132 

Days of week, named 33 

Dee, river 60 

De-fend'er of the Faith 211 

De-foe', Daniel, English author . . .282 
Del'/ii', revolt in ........ 328 

Der'by, prime minister 326 

De-spen'sers, father and son, favourites 

of Edward II 147-149 

D'Este (das'tfi), Marie, James II. mar- 
ries 284 

Det' ting-en, battle of 299 

Di§-rae'li, prime minister 326 

DonN'g'day Book 81 

Doug'las, fights Saracens . . . 146, 147 
skirmish warfare of .... 150, 151 
Douglas, defeats Percy Hotspur . . .171 
Douglas, George, assists Mary of 

Scots 242 

Drake, Sir Francis 245 

Dru'ids, in Anglesey 18 

killed by Suetonius 24 

religion of 14-17 

Dry'den, poet . 282 

Dudley, lawyer 205, 206 

Northumberland's father .... 207 
Dudley, son of Northumberland . . 226 
husband of Lady Jane Grey . . .229 
Du'el-ling, end of, in British army . . 317 
Dun-bar', Scotch defeats at . . 138, 269 
Dunbar Castle, Mary of Scots at . . 240 
Dun'can, King of Scotland, murdered, 73 
Dun'kirk, acquired by Cromwell . . 274 

sold to French 280 

Spanish army at 244 

Dun'stan, banished 59 

influence of 56-58 

in power 60 

placed among saints 62 

Duquesne (du-kan'), Fort, captured . 303 
Dutch. See Holland. 



347 



PAGE 

East India Company, formed . . . .257 

loses India 330 

trading posts of 303 

Ed' gar, laws of 60 

Edge'hill, battle of 265 

Edinburgh (ed'in-bur-ro), captured . 300 

English army at 224 

E'dith, wife of Edward the Confessor . 09 
Ed'mnnd, King, conquers Cumbria . 55 
Edmund Iron' sides, war with Danes . 64 

Ed'red, defeats Danes 55, 56 

under Dunstan's influence . . .57, 58 
Edward the Confessor ... 69, 70, 73 
Edward the Elder, King of Saxons . . 53 

Edward the Martyr 61, 62 

Edward I., coronation of 129 

death of 140 

escapes 127 

marches into Wales 132 

persecutes Jews 130 

reforms of 130 

taken prisoner 126 

trouble with France .... 134-136 

wins Little Battle of Chalons . . .129 

Edward II., first Prince of Wales, 132, 140 

murder of 149 

Parliament at York 142 

revolt of barons 147, 148 

war with Bruce 145 

Edward III., crowned 149 

death of 165 

fights Scots 150, 151 

Hundred Years' War 153 

seven years' truce with Fiance . . 159 

Edward IV., death of 196 

escapes 193 

marries Elizabeth Woodville . . . 193 

proclaimed king 191 

returns to London 195 

Edward V., birth of 194 

imprisoned and murdered . . 197, 198 
Edward VI., son of Henry VIII. . . 218 

crowned 222 

death of 226 

education of 223 

peasants' revolt 224 

plan for his marriage 224 

plan for the succession . . . 225, 226 

Ed'wy, Saxon king 58 

E'gypt, British take possession of . . 312 

Napoleon's victories in 311 

El'ba, Napoleon sent to 315 

El'ean-or, wife of Henry II 96 

imprisoued 104 

released 107 

Eleanor, wife of Edward I. . . 128, 136 



PAGE 

E-lec'tions, reform in 321 

El-fri'da, Edgar marries 61 

reigns in England 62 

El-gi'va, wife of King Edwy . . . 58-60 
E-liz'a-beth, Queen, daughter of Henry 

VIII 217, 218 

character 234 

church policy of 233 

crowned 233 

death of 252 

encourages literature .... 247, 249 

excommunicated 237 

Invincible Armada 244-246 

plans for her marriage 236 

reforms of 235 

successor to throne .... 222, 225 

troubles with Ireland 250 

troubles with Mary Stuart . . 242, 243 
Elizabeth, wife of Henry VII. . . .202 
Elizabeth Wood'ville, wife of Edward 

IV 193 

E-liz'a-beth-an Age 247, 249 

Em'ma, wife of Ethelred 64 

marries Canute 65 

Emp'son, lawyer 205, 206 

England (ing'glund), origin of name . 34 
separation from Hanover .... 321 
separation of French provinces . .118 

union with Ireland 310 

union with Scotland 295 

Wales annexed 134 

England, Church of. See Church of 

England. 
English (ing'glish) language . . 34, 164 

English Reign of Terror 285 

Er'nest, King of Hanover 321 

Es'sex, kingdom of Saxons 34 

Essex, Earl of, Elizabeth's adviser, 250, 251 
Eth-an-dun', Danes conquered at . . 50 
Eth'el-bert, Anglo-Saxon king ... 38 
Eth'el-red the Unready, Anglo-Saxon 

king 62 

pays Danegeld 64 

Eth'el-wulf, King, journeys to Rome . 46 

2?u-gene', Prince 291, 292 

Eves/Aam, battle of 127 

Ex-com-mu-ni-ca'tion, defined . . . 103 
Ex'e-ter, Roman camp at 25 

Fair'fax, Puritan leader 264 

Fair Ros'a-mond, story of . . . .96, 97 
Fal'kirk, Scots defeated at .... 138 
Fav'er -sham, James II. escapes to . . 285 
Fawkes, Guy, Gunpowder Plot of, 255, 256 
Fer'di-nand and Isabella of Spain . . 205 



348 



PAGE 
Feu'dal-ism, decline of ... . 155, 201 

introduced 80, 81 

Field of the Cloth of Gold 210 

Fire, great . . .• 279 

Fish'er, Bishop of Roch'es-ter . 216, 217 
Flan'derg, Count of, John's ally . . .120 
Flanders, Philip of Spain in ... . 232 
Flint Castle, Richard II. in . . . . 173 

Flod'den Field, battle of 207 

F15r'i-da, boundary in dispute . . . 298 

ceded to England 307 

FOth'er-in-gay Castle, Mary in . . . 243 

Fox, Charles 312 

France, acquires Calais 232 

attacked by John 120 

Britons settle in 35 

English possessions in, lost .... 118 
helps Greeks against Turks . . . 320 
Hundred Years' "War 

153-159, 162, 163, 180-186 
loses colonial possessions . . 305, 307 
makes compact with Spain . . 298, 299 

Napoleon 311, 312 

Northmen in 63 

recognizes independence of United 

States 309 

Reign of Terror .309 

Seven Years' War .301 

treaty of Bretigny 163 

War of Spanish Succession .... 290 
wars with England 

115, 134-136, 153, 180, 221, 223, 311 
Fran'cis I., King of France .... 207 

meets Henry VII 210 

Francis II., marries Queen of Scot- 
land 225 

"Frank'ing" letters 275 

Fre'a, goddess of beauty 34 

Fred'er-ick V., Elector 259 

Free trade 327 

French and Indian War 301 

Fr6b'ish-er, commander 245 

Frog'more, tomb for Prince Albert at . 336 



Gads., driven to Scotland and Wales . 18 

settle in England 13, 14 

Gard'iner, Bishop, adviser of Queen 

Mary 228, 230 

death of 231 

imprisoned 224 

Gas-coi#ne', Judge 177, 179 

Gaul, invaded by Attila 28 

Gav'es-ton, Piers 141-143 

G6offrey of Anjou (aN-zhoo'), marries 
Matilda 92 



PAGE 

Geoffrey, son of Henry II. . . . 105, 106 

George I., death of 298 

proclaimed king 296 

visits Hanover 297 

George II., c "owned 298 

death of. 305 

George III character of 306 

crowned 305 

death of 319 

George IV., regent 315 

character of 319 

George, husband of Anne . . . 291, 295 
Geor'gi-a, boundary of, in dispute . . 298 
Ger'man-y, Charles V., Emperor of . 207 

Victoria, Empress of 335 

William. Emperor of . ' 336 

in War of Spanish Succession . . .291 

Gi-bral'tar, captured 294 

Gil'bert h Becket 99 

Gil'das) writes Latin history .... 41 

Glad'stone, prime minister 326 

Glas'fon-bur-y, Arthur buried at . . 35 
Glen-coe', MacDonalds murdered at . 288 
Glen'dower, Owen, leads rebellion . . 175 
GlOwces'ter, Humphrey.Duke of, 183, 184, 187 
Gloucester, Richard, Duke of. See 

liicliard III. 
Gloucester, Robert, Earl of . . .94,95 
Gloucester, Thomas, Duke of . . . .167 

death of 172 

regent 171 

Go-di'va, Lady, story of 71, 72 

God'win, officer of Canute 67 

death of 70 

influence of 68, 69 

Gor'don, Chinese 328 

death of 334 

Grand Alliance 291 

Great Brit' ain, countries composing . 11 

Ireland united to 310 

kingdom of 295 

Great Char'ter. See Magna Chart a. 

Greek war 320 

Greenwich (gren'ij) Hospital founded, 291 

Grgg'o-ry, Pope 38-40 

Grey, Lady Jane 226 

executed 229 

reigns ten days 227, 228 

Grey, Lord, executed 197 

Giii-Smie', Black Prince in 162 

English province 118, 153 

French monarch occupies .... 135 
Gwine-gate', French defeat at . . . 206 

Gun'pow-der, discovered 128 

Gunpowder Plot 254-256 

Guth'rum, Danish general .... 50 



349 



PAGE 

Ha'be-as Cor'pus Act 281, 285 

Ea'dri-an, wall of 26 

Hal, Prince. See Henry V. 

Hamp'den, pays ship money .... 262 

Puritan leader 264 

Hamp'ton Court, Charles I. at . . . 266 

Wolsey at 208 

Han'o-ver, Elector of, marries Sophia . 296 

separated from England 1321 

Han-o-ve'ri-an kings, 296, 298, 305, 319, 320 

Har-di-ca-nute', King 68 

ZZar-fleur', surrender of 180 

Har'old, death of 75 

made king 74 

Harold the Harefoot 68 

Has'tings, battle of 75, 76 

Hastings, Lord, beheaded 197 

Hastings, pirate chief 50 

Hatfield House, Elizabeth captive 

at 233 

Hav'e-lock, in Indian Mutiny . 329, 330 
Haw'ar-den Castle, captured .... 132 
Hawke, Admiral, destroys French fleet, 303 

Hawk' ins, commander 245 

Hedge'ly Moor, battle of 191 

Hem' au§, Mrs., poet 311 

Hen'gist, leader of Jutes 32 

Hen-ri-et'ta Maria, wife of Charles I. 

259, 261 
Hen'ry I. (Beauclerc, bo-klark'), King 

of England 88 

death of 92 

master of Normandy 89 

Henry II. (Short'man-tle), and Thomas 

a Becket 100, 101 

conquers Ireland 103 

crowned 96 

death of 105 

institutes trial by jury 97 

public penance of 104 

war with Stephen 95 

Henry III., crowned 124 

death of 129 

inglorious reign of 128 

Henry IV., crowned 173 

death of 178 

exiled 173 

war with Welsh and Scotch . . .175 
Henry V., battle of Agincourt . . .181 

battle of Shrewsbury 175 

conquests in France 182 

death of 183 

invades France 180 

succeeds Henry IV 179 

Henry VI 183 

captured 190 

STO. OF ENG.— 22 



PAGE 

Henry VI., death of 195 

deposed 191 

marries Margaret of Aujou . . . .187 

recrowned 194 

Henry VII., character of . . . 205, 206 

crowned 201 

death of 206 

discoveries 205 

Earl of Richmond 200 

marries Elizabeth 202 

the pretenders 203, 204 

Henry VIII., alliance with Charles V. 

207, 210 

character 206 

death of 222 

Defender of the Faith 211 

encourages learning and commerce 

220, 221 
head of church .... 216, 218, 219 

marries Anne Boleyn 215 

marries Anne of Cleves 219 

marries Catherine Howard . . . . 2L9 
marries Catherine of Aragon . . . 206 

marries Catherine Parr 219 

marries Jane Seymour 218 

proceedings for divorce . . . 212-215 

Henry, son of James 1 258 

Henry, son of Charles I. . . . 267, 268 

Hep'tare/i-y 36 

Her'e-ford, Earl of 135 

Hex'Aam, battle of 191 

Hi-ber'ni-a, Ireland called 29 

High'land-ers. defeated 287 

join Prince Charles Edward . 300, 301 

Hil'da, abbess 41 

Hol'bein, painter 221 

Holland (Dutch), Charles V., ruler 

of 207 

wars with England. . . 271,281,310 

wars with France 291, 299 

Ho'ly-rood Palace 240 

Hom'il-don Hill, victory at .... 175 

H6ng K6ng, British take 328 

Hor'sa, leader of Jutes 32 

| Hotspur, Percy, war with Scots . 171, 175 
! House of Com'mons, origin of, 127, 128, 136 

House of Lords 136 

How'ard, Admiral 245 

Howard, Catherine, marries Henry 

VIII 219 

Howe, Lord, defeats French .... 309 
Hu'gwe-nots, Charles I. aids .... 261 

ii< England 288 

Hun'drcd Years' War 

153-159, 162, 163, 180-186 
Huns, invasions of 28 



5o 



PAGE 
Independents, in James I. "a reign . 254 

quarrel with Parliament 200 

In'di-a, French and English in . . . 303 

French driven out of 305 

Indian Mutiny 328-330 

placed under queen's rule .... 330 
In-vin'ci-ble Ar-ma'da .... 244-246 
Ireland (Irish), conquered by Henry 

II 103, 104 

conquered by Ireton 271 

conversion of 30, 31 

in Elizabeth's reign 250 

rebellion in 289 

Roman Catholic Church in . . . .288 

united to Great Britain 310 

war with Cromwell 269 

wars with 173, 203 

Ire'ton, subdues Ireland . . . 209, 271 

I§-a-bel'la, Edward II. marries . . .141 

rules during Edward III. 'a minority, 150 

signs treaty with France .... 148 

Isabella, wife of Richard II. . . 172, 173 



PAGE 

Jews, return to England 275 

torture of 120 

Jo-an' of Arc, at Orleans 184 

burned at stake 186 

sold to English 185, 186 

victories of 185 

John of England, called Lackland . . Ill 

crowned 117 

death of 124 

does homage to pope 119 

favours foreigners 125 

kills Prince Arthur 118 

makes alliances 120 

pardoned by Richard 115 

John I., King of France 162 

Jon'son, Ben, author 259 

Jop'pa, Richard I. victorious at - . . . Ill 
Joyce, Captain, seizes Charles I. . . 266 
Judgements of God, defined .... 81 

Ju-di'cial duels 81 

Jutes, Teutonic tribe 32-34 

Jux'on, Charles I.'s chaplain .... 268 



Jac'ob-ites, adherents of James . . .287 

become loyal subjects 306 

in Ireland 289 

in Scotland 300 

Tories side with 297 

Ja-mai'ca, acquired by Cromwell . . 274 
James I. of Scotland, captivity of, 176, 184 
James IV. of Scotland, death of . . . 207 
James V. of Scotland, and Henry VIII. 220 
James VI. of Scotland (I. of England), 

character 253 

death of 260 

divine right of kingB .... 256. 261 
favours Church of England .... 252 

Gunpowder Plot 254-256 

religious conference 254. 

James II. of England, crowned . . . 283 

death of 290 

favours Catholics 285 

fleea 285 

in Ireland 289 

rebellion under Monmouth .... 284 

successor to throne . . 278, 281, 282 

James the Pretender . . . 290, 297, 300 

Jeffreys, Judge ...... 284, 285 

Je-ho'vah 246 

Jen'kins's Ear, War of ... . 298, 299 
Je-ru'sa-lem, taken by Saracens . . . 105 

taken by Turks 86 

Jews, in Parliament 326 

massacre of 100 

persecution of 130 



Ken'il-worth Castle, Edward II. at . 149 

Elizabeth at 249 

Kent, Duchess of 321 

Kent, Jutes take possession of ... 34 
K/tar-tum', Gordon killed at ... . 334 

King George's War 299 

King William'a War 290 

King's evil 69 

Kirk, massacre of 284 

Knights, education of ... . 100, 161 

new order of, founded . . . 159, 100 

Knights of the Round Table .... 36 

Knox, Protestant preacher . . 237, 238 



L-i Rogue, battle of 289 

Lanc'as-ter, Duke of, power of . . . 167 

secures throne of Castile . . . .171 
Lancaster, Earl of 143 

beheaded 148 

revolt of barons under 147 

Lancaster, house of . . 174. 179, 183, 189 

Lane, assists Charles II 271 

Lan'franc, Archbishop of Canterbury 

82, 84, 85 
Lang' ton, Stephen, Archbishop of Can- 
terbury , 119 

La Ro-chehe', Huguenota besieged 

at 261 

Lat'i-mer, preacher 223 

burned at stake 230, 231 

Laud, minister to Charles I. . . 262, 263 



35i 



PAGE 

L&ces'ter Abbey, Richard III. buried at, 201 

Wolsey's death at 214 

Leicester, Earl of 236 

and Mary, Queen of Scots .... 238 
receives Elizabeth at Kenihvorth . 249 

Leipzig (lip'tsiG), battle of 315 

Leith 271 

Le-ofric, imposes tax 71 

Le'o-pold of Austria . . . 108, 110, 112 

Lew'es, battle of 126 

Lex'ing-ton, battle of 308 

Limoges (le-mozh'), revolt of . . . . 163 

Line'oZn, French defeat at 125 

Stephen defeated at 94 

Lin-lith'gow, captured 144 

Lit'er-a-ture, under Elizabeth. . 247, 249 

under Queen Anne 295 

Llew-el'lyn (loo-), Welsh leader . 131, 132 
Loch-le'ven (16K-) Castle, Mary of Scots 

at 241 

Logarithms, table of, invented . . . 259 
Lol'lards, persecution of. . 175,180,211 

teachings of 170 

Lom'bards, money-lenders 130 

Lon'don, mob in 168, 188 

plague and fire in 279 

rebuilt 280 

refuses admission to Margaret . . 190 

L6n'd0n-der-ry, siege of 289 

Long Battle, Athelstan wins .... 54 

Long Parliament 272 

Lou'i'8 XII. of France 207 

Louis XIV. of France 290 

alliance against 291 

loses American colonies .... 295 

taxation of 309 

Louis XV. of France 309 

Louis XVI. of France, beheaded . . 309 
Louis XVIII. of France .... 315, 319 
Lov'el, Lord, death of ... . 203, 204 

Luck'now, revolt in 329 

relieved 330 

Luther, Martin, preaching of . . . 211 
Lut'ter-worth, Wyclif at 170 



Mac-be th', story of 73 

MacDon'ald, Flora, aids Prince Charlie, 300 

MacDonalds, at Glencoe 288 

Mad Parliament 126 

Ma-dras', English settlement at . . 303 
Magna CMr'ta, drawn up by barons . 122 

ratified by Edward 1 135 

ratified by Pembroke 124 

Maid of Or'le-ans. See Joan of A re. 
Malcolm I., receives Cumbria ... 55 | 



PAGE 
Malplaquet (mal-pla-ka'), battle of . 293 

Mantes (m6Nt), captured 83 

March, Earl of 174, 179 

Mar'ga-ret, Queen, defeats Yorkists . 190 

defeated and captured 194 

escapes to France 193 

flees to Scotland 191 

invades England 191 

ransomed by her father 195 

M&vYhov-oKcjh, Duke of, character . . 293 
commander of the Dutch and English 

forces 291, 292 

victories of 293, 294 

welcomes George 1 296 

Mar'ston Moor, battle of 265 

Ma'ry. Queen, daughter of Henry VIII. 223 

death of 232 

marries Philip of Spain 228 

persecutes Protestants . . . 230, 231 

war with France 232 

Mary, Queen, daughter of James II. . 282 

crowned 286 

death of 290 

marriage to William of Orange . . 282 
Mary Stuart, Queen of Scotland . . . 220 

condemned to death 243 

escape of 241 

imprisoned at Dunbar 240 

imprisoned by Elizabeth .... 242 

takes title of Queen of England . . 237 

Mash'ain, Mrs., friend of Queen Anne, 293 

Ma'sons' Guild, buildscathedrals . . 128 

Ma til'. la, wife of William I. . . . 76, 83 

Matilda, wife of Henry 1 38 

Matilda, daughter of Henry I. ... 92 

claims throne 93 

marries Geoffrey Plantagenet ... 92 

war with Stephen 94, 95 

May'flow-er, Separatists sail in . . . 254 

Med-i-ter-ra'ne-an Sea 19 

Mee'rut, revolt in 328 

Mel'bourne, Lord .... 324, 325, 326 
Mel'rose Abbey, Bruce buried at . . 147 
Men'ai Strait, English killed at . . . 132 
Mer'ci-a (-shl-a), kingdom formed by 

Angles , . 34 

Merlin, prophecy of 131 

Merry England 277 

Mil'ton, John, poet 276, 282 

Min'den, battle of 303 

Mis-so-lon'g/t'i, Byron's death at . . .320 

Mon'as-ter-ies 31, 40, 57, 69 

Monk, General, dismisses Parliament. 276 

subdues Scotland 271 

Mon'mouth, Duke of 278 

tries to secure the throne .... 284 



352 



PAGE 

MOnt'fort, Simon de 126, 127 

M6N£-Sai'N«-Mi-chei', Prince Henry at, 85 
More, Sir Thomas, chancellor . . . 216 

death of 217 

his "Utopia" 217 

Mor'ti-mer, escapes to France . . .148 

hanged at Tyburn 152 

rules during Edward III.'s minority, 150 
Murray, imprisons Mary Stuart . . 241 

Na'pi-er, John, scientist 259 

Na-po'le-on Bo'na-parte 310 

attacks Austria and Russia . . . .314 
attempts to cross Channel . . 312-314 

death of, at St. Helena 317 

Emperor of French 312 

First Consul 311 

returns from Elba 317 

sent to Elba 315 

Nas/by, battle of 265 

Nav-i-ga'tiou Act 271 

Na'vy, English, founders of . . 50, 183 

increased 60, 235, 320 

Nel'son, Admiral ....... 311-313 

Neth'er-lands. See Hollani. 

Nev'ilte'g Cross, victory of 157 

New Am'ster-dam, given to James II. 283 
New'cas-ile, coal brought from . . .179 
New England, first colony in . . . . 254 

New Forest 82 

New'found-land, discovered by Cabot. 205 

relinquished by French 295 

News'pa-pers, circulation of first . . 275 
Ni-ag'a-ra, Fort, captured by British . 303 
Night'in-gale, Florence, in Crimean War, 331 

Nile, battle of the 311 

Non-con-form'ists, in James I.'s reign, 254 

Nor'foZk. conspiracy of 243 

Nor'man-dy, given to Robert .... 83 

Henry I. acquires 89, 91 

Northmen settle in 63 

seized by William Paifus .... 87 
taken by Philip of France .... 118 

Nor'man kings 76, 84, 88, 93 

Nor'mans, become friends with Saxons, 164 
castles and customs of .... 78-81 

invade England 75, 76 

quarrel with Englishmen .... 134 
North A-mer'i-ca, English in . 297, 303, 307 
North-amp'ton, Lancastrian defeat at. 190 

treaty of 151 

North'men. See Danes. 
Nor-thum'ber-land, and Lady Jane 

Grey 227, 228 

executed 228 

policy of 225, 226 



PAGE 
Nor-thum'bri-a, kingdom of .... 34 
Nor'way, conquered by Canute ... 65 

Norway, Maid of 137 

Nor-we'gi-ans, attack England ... 87 

Not'ting-Aam, Countess of 251 

Nottingham Castle, Mortimer at . . 151 
Nottingham Hill, Charle* I. at . . . 265 
Nun'ner-ies 58 

Oath of supremacy 216 

O'Con'nell, Daniel 320 

Order of the Garter, formed .... 159 

Or'le-ans, Duke of 180 

Orleans, siege of 184 

Og'borne in Isle of Wight 336 

Ot'ter-burn, battle of 171 

Ou'den-ar-de, battle of 293 

Out'laws, infest forests 115 

Ox'ford, Wyclif at 170 

Oxford Castle, Matilda at 95 

Pal'es-tine, Prince Edward in . . . . 128 

Richard I. in 108-110 

P Um'er-ston, prime minister .... 326 

Par'is, peace of 307 

Par'li«-ment, and Henry III 125 

Barebone's 272 

Catholics in 320 

divided into Hoiisjs 136 

elects Henry IV. king. . . . 174,175 

first real 127 

Irish members in 310 

Long 272 

Mad 126 

Rump 266 

Scotch members in 295 

secures reforms 164 

Short 263 

struggle with Charles I. . . 261-267 

struggle with James 1 256 

under York and Lancaster . . 195, 196 
Parr, Catherine, marries Henry VIII. 219 

Peas/ ants' Revolt 167-169, 224 

Peel, English minister .... 319, 326 

Peep'ing Tom of Coventry 72 

Pem'broke, Earl of, regent . . . 124, 125 
Pender-ell, befriends Charles II. . . 270 

Pen-in'su-lar War 315 

Per'cys 171, 175, 180 

Per'rers, Alice, and Edward III. ,. . 165 

Pe'ter the Hermit 86 

Peter's pence 45, 46 

Pe-ti'tion of Right 261, 286 

Phil'ip of France, complains about 
Richard HO 



353 



PAGE 

Philip of France, ordered to invade 

England 119 

takes Normandy 118 

Pliilip II. of Spain, claims English 

throne 244 

courts Elizabeth 236 

disliked by English 230 

marries Mary 229 

victorious at St. Quentin .... 232 

Phi-lip'pa of Hainault (ha-no) . . .151 

intercedes for burghers of Calais . . 157 

vow of 161 

Phce-ni'cians (-shuns) 19-21 

Picts and Scots, driven out of Britain . 32 

raids of 25-28, 31 

Pin'kie, Scotch defeat at 224 

Pitt, William, English minister . 303, 307 

death of 308 

Pitt, William, the Younger .... 308 
Pitts'burg, so called in honour of Pitt, 303 

Plague, ravages of 279 

Plan-tag'e-net kings, 96, 106, 117, 121, 129, 
[140, 149, 166, 173, 179, 183, 191, 198, 201 

Plas'sey, battle of 304 

Plym'outh Rock, Pilgrims at ... . 254 
Poitiers (pwa-ti-a'), English victory at, 162 

Pole, Cardinal 230 

Poll tax 167, 170 

Pontefract (pom'fret) Castle, Richard 

II.'s death at 173 

Pope, the, and Henry VIII. . . 212, 215 

Pope, poet 295 

Por'tu gal, war against Napoleon . . 315 

P<>st'ag<>, reduced 321, 325 

Post'al service, improved 275 

Potatoes, introduced into Ireland . . 258 
Pres by-te'ri an Church in Scotland . 288 

Press, freedom of 290 

Pies-ton-pans', battle of 300 

Pre-tend'er, proclaimed James III. . 297 

in Rome 300 

Primate 100 

Prince of Wales, first .... 132, 134 

Print'ing, introduced .... 196, 211 

I'rot'cs-tants, crown to go to . . . . 287 

during Charles II.'s reign .... 282 

during Edward VI. 's reign . . 223,224 

during Elizabeth's reign 234 

during James II.'s reign 285 

first 170 

Huguenots 261 

in Netherlands, revolt of .... 244 

in Scotland 237 

persecution of ... . 228, 230, 231 

Prussia (prush'a) 299, 317 

Pun-jib', taken by the British . . .328 



PAGE 

Pu'ri-tan party 266, 269 

Puritans 234 

called Roundheads 264 

during Charles II.'s reign . . 278,279 

during James I.'s reign 254 

set sail for America 263 

Pym, Puritan leader 264 

Pyr'a-mids, battle of the 311 

Quak'ers settle in New World . . .281 
Que-bec', captured by British . . . 303 
Queen Anne's War 291 

Rag'nar Lod'brog, invades England, 44, 45 

Railroad, first English 320 

R&'leiglt, Sir Walter, executed . . .258 

imprisoned 253 

seaman *. 245 

story of 246, 247 

Ramillies (ra-me ye ), battle of . 292, 293 

Read'ing, abbey at 89 

Read'ing-glasses, discovered .... 128 

Ref-or-ma'tion, Wyclif 170 

Martin Luther 211 

Reign of Terror 309 

Res-to-ra'tion, the 277 

Rev-o-lu'tion, of 1688 287 

American 308 

Rich'ard I., Co uv de Li-oN', crowned . 106 

death of 116 

in third crusade 107-110 

recrowned 113 

return of Ill, 112 

war with France 115 

Richard II. of England, abdicates . . 173 

crowned 166 

his promises to peasants 168 

Richard III., Duke of Gloucester . . 191 
conspires against Clarence .... 195 

crowned 198 

death of 201 

murders young princes . . . 194, 198 
plots with Warwick and Clarence . 193 

proclaimed Protector 197 

Richard, Prince, murdered .... 198 
Rich'mond, Earl of. Sec Henry VII. 
Rid'ley, burned at stake . . . 230, 231 

Rising Castle, Isabella at 152 

Riv'ers, Earl, executed 197 

Rizzio (rit'se-o), Mary's secretary, 238, 239 
Rob'ert I. of Scotland. See Bruce. 

Robert, son of William 1 82, 86 

Rnb'in Hood, outlaw chief 115 

Rob'sart, Amy, wife of Leicester . . 236 
Roche-fort', Napoleon at ... .317 
Rol'lo, Rolf Gang'er 63 



354 



PAGE 
Ro'man Cath'o-lics. See Catholics. 
Ro'mans, buildings destroyed ... 33 

conquer Britain 22, 25 

leave Britain 26, 27, 29 

seek Tin Islands 20, 21 

Rooke, Sir George, conquers Gibraltar, 294 

R6§e'ber-y, prime minister 326 

Roses, War of 189-195, 201 

Rouen (roo-6N'), besieged and taken . 182 

Joan of Arc burned at 186 

Richard I. buried at 116 

Round'heads 264-266 

Ro-we'na, Hengist's daughter. ... 33 

Roy'al Oak 270 

Rump Parliament 266 

Run'ny-mede, John at 122 

Ru'pert, Prince 264 

Rus'sell, prime minister 326 

Russia (rush' a), attacked by Napoleon, 314 

Crimean War 331 

Czarina of ... . 336 

helps Greeks against Turks . . . 320 

Rye House Plot 282 

Ry§'wick, treaty of 290 

St. Al'bans, battle of 190 

St. Au'gus-tine, converts Anglo-Saxons 

39, 41 
St. Brice's day, massacre of . . . 64, 69 
St. Germain (saN zhcr-maN'), James II. 

at 286 

St. He-le'na, Napoleon at 317 

St. Pat'rick, story of 29-31 

St. Paul's Church 279, 280 

St. Peter's Church 45 

St. Pierre (saN pe-ar'), at Calais. . .157 
St. Quentin (saN k5N-t&N'), battle of . 232 
St. T/tom'as of Canterbury . . . 103, 104 

St. Vin'cent, battle of 310 

Sal'a-din, Saracen chief .... 108, 111 

Sal-a-man'ca, battle of 315 

Sah'g'bur-y, Countess of 159 

Salisbury, prime minister 326 

Sar'a-cens, in Holy Land . . 86, 110, 111 

war with Spain 146 

Sat'urn, Roman god 34 

Sa-voy' Palace, French king at . . . 163 

Sax'on kings 34-74 

Saxons, at war with Danes. . .44, 45, 47 
become friends with Normans. . .164 

defeated by Arthur 35 

education and morality of . . . 51, 52 

settle in Britain 32-34 

Schom'berg, General, killed .... 289 
S€6nc, coronation at 137 



PAGE 

Scot'land (Scots), annexed to England, 138 

conquered by General Monk . . .271 

Presbyterian Church in 288 

rebellion in 284, 297 

sides with Elizabeth 237 

united with England 295 

war with England 

150, 152, 171, 175, 207, 220, 224 
wins independence. . . . 344-146, 151 

Scots and Picts 25-28, 31, 32 

Scri-ba'ri-um, monastery library . . 58 
Scrope, Archbishop of York, rebels. . 176 

Sedge'moor, battle of 284 

Seine, river 186 

Sen'lac, battle 75, 76 

Sep'a-ra-tists, sail for New World . . 254 

Serfs, or slaves 36 

Sev-en-oaks', battle of 188 

Seven Years' War .... 301, 303, 306 

Se-ve'rus, wall of 26, 29 

Seymour, Jane, marries Henry VIII. . 218 

Shake'spem-e, William . 249 

Sher-iff-mihV, battle of 297 

Sher'wood Forest, E,obin Hood in . . 115 

Ship money 262 

Shore'/iam, Charles II. at 271 

Shrew s'bur-y, battle of 175 

Sic'i-ly, Prince Edward in 129 

Sid'ney, Sir Philip, death of . . . .247 

SikAs, English defeat 328 

Sim'nel, Lam'bert, pretender . . . 203 
Slav'er-y, abolished in colonies . . . 321 

Slave trading, introduced 222 

Smith'fleld, Richard II. at 169 

Snow'don, Mount, Glendower on . . 175 

Welsh on 132 

Sol'way Moss, Scotch defeat at . . . 220 
Som'er-set, Duke of, closes monasteries, 223 

executed 225 

invades Scotland 224 

named Protector 222 

Somerset, Margaret's adviser. . 189, 190 
S6mme R,iver, Edward III. at ... 153 
So-phi'a, heir to the throne . . 287, 296 

South Sea Bubble 297, 298 

South' wark, camp at 188 

Spain, cedes Florida to England . . . 307 

Charles V., ruler of 207 

declares war against Napoleon . . 315 
makes compact with France . 298,299 

Thirty Years' War 259 

tin mines in 19 

war with England 245, 313 

" Spec-ta'tor, "early English magazine, 295 
Spen'ser's " Fil'e-rie Queene " . . . .247 
Spit'al-flelds, silk factory at . . . .288 



355 



PAGE 
Stam'ford Bridge, battle of .... 75 

Stamp Act 307 

Star Chamber 205, 252 

end of 264 

Steele, English author 295 

Ste'phen, King, civil war .... 94, 95 

crowned 93 

death of 96 

Stirling, surrender of ... . 144, 145 
Stirling Bridge, English defeat at . . 138 

Stoke, Irish defeated at 203 

Stone Age, defined 12 

Stone'henge, temple of Druids ... 17 

Strafford, Earl of 2C2-264 

Straw, Jack, leads mob .... 108, 169 

Stu'art, Lady Arabella 253 

Stuart kings 241, 260, 276, 283 

Sue-to'ni-us (swe-), Roman general, 24, 25 
Suffolk, Margaret's adviser .... 188 

Suffolk, Duchess of 222 

Sur'rey, Lord, victory over Scots . . 207 

Sus'sex, Saxon kingdom 34 

Sweyn, Danish king 64 

Swift, English writer 295 

Swit'zer-land, missionaries in ... 31 
Syr'i-a, Napoleon in 311 

Ta-la-ve'ra, battle of 315 

Tan-gier', becomes English possession, 278 
" Tat'ler," first English magazine . . 295 

Tel'e-graph, first 325 

Tcl'e-scopes, first 128 

Ten'ny-son's " Charge of tha Light Bri- 
gade" 331 

"Idylls of the King" 36 

"Lady Godiva's Ride' . . . .70-72 

Teu-ton'ic race, Angles 33 

Danes, or Northmen 42, 44 

Jutes 32 

Saxons 32, 33 

visit shores of Britain 31 

Tewkes'bur-y, battle of 194 

Thames (temz) 257 

Thane§, duties of 36 

Than'et, given to Jutes 32 

Thirty Years' War 259 

Thor, god of thunder 33 

Ti-con-der-6'ga, captured by British . 303 
Tinchebrai (taNsh-bra'), battle of . . 89 

Tin Islands 20 

Ttu, god of war 33 

To-bac'co, introduced into England . 253 
To'ries and Whigs, quarrels of . 282, 295 

side with Jacobites 297 

Tom-Ion', recovered by French . . .310 



PAGE 

Tower of London, built 79 

Tow'ton, battle of 191 

Traf-al-gar', battle of 313 

Trafalgar Square 314 

Treaty, of Aix-la-Chapelle . . . 299, 300 

of Amiens 312 

of Bretigny 163 

of Campoformio 311 

of Northampton 151 

of Paris 307 

of Ryswick 290 

ofTroyes 182, 184 

of Utrecht 295 

of Wallingford 95, 96 

of Wedmore 50 

Trial by jury, instituted 97 

Trials by ordeal 37, 38 

Trip'o-11, pirates at, subdued .... 274 
Troyes (trwa), treaty of ... . 182, 184 

Tu'dor architecture 206 

Tudor kings . . . 202, 206, 222, 228, 233 
Tu'nis, pirates at, subdued .... 274 
Ty'burn, place of execution . . 152,204 
Ty'ler, Wat, leads mob .... 167-169 

Ty-rone', Earl of, rebels 250 

Tyr'rel, Sir Walter 87 

United King'dom 11 

United States, Civil War 334 

recognition of 308 

taxation in 307 

U' tree/it, treaty of 295 

Van-dyke', Dutch artist 260 

Van TrOmp, Dutch admiral . . . .271 

Ven'er-a-ble Bede 42 

Vic-to'ri-a, Queen, character <>f . . . 322 

childhood of 321, 322 

children 335, 336 

coronation of 323 

Empress of India 330 

improvements during reign of . . 334 

jubilee of 337 

marriage of 324 

occupations of 336 

reforms during reign of 327 

Vic-to'ri-an Age 327 

Vi en'na, assembly at 317 

Vienne, Jean de (zhoN du ve-en') . . 156 

Vik'ings. See Danes. 

Vir-gin'i-a, granted to Raleigh . . .247 

Vi-to'ri-a, battle of 315 

Voi-'ti-gern, death of 34 

gives Thanet to Jutes 32 

solicits aid from Germans ... 31, 32 



356 



PAGE 

Wake'field, Yorkist defeat at . . . . 190 

Wales. (WeLh), annexed . . . 131, 132 

Britons take possession of .... 32 

exterminate wolves 60 

language of 35 

rebellion 175 

Wallace (wOl'is), William, war with, 138,139 

Wal'ling-ford, treaty of 95, 96 

Wal'pole, prime minister . . . 296, 298 

Wal'sing-Aam, minister to Elizabeth . 235 

War, of Austrian Succession .... 299 

of Spanish Succession . . . 290-295 

of the Roses 189-195, 201 

of 1812 315 

War'beck, Per'kin, pretender . . . 204 
War' wick Castle, Gaveston at . . . 143 
Warwick, Richard, Earl of, at North- 
ampton 190 

enters London 190, 191 

killed 194 

revenge of 193 

the kingmaker 194 

Warwick, Edward, Earl of, beheaded . 204 
Wash'ing-ton, George, American gen- 
eral 308 

Wa-ter-loo', Napoleon at 317 

Wat'ling Street 50 

Wed' more, treaty of 50 

Wel'ling-ton, victories of . . . 315, 317 
Wes'sex, Saxon kingdom . . . . . 34 
West'min-ster Abbey, kings buried at 

62, 141, 183, 206, 259, 275, 277, 314 

Whigs and Tories 282 

quarrels of 295-297 

Whitehall, palace of 208 

White Ship, the 91 

Whit'ting-ton, Lord Mayor of London 

178, 179 
Wil'ber-force, abolishes slavery . . .321 
Wil'liam I., builds Tower of London . 79 

claims throne 74 

crowned 76, 78 

curfew bell 81 

death of 83, 84 

Domesday Book 81 

feudalism introduced . . . . 80, 81 

New Forest 82 

war with Robert 83 

wins battle of Senlac .75 



PAGE 

William II., Ru'fus, attacks Prince 

Henry 85 

crowned 84 

killed in New Forest 87 

seizes Normandy 87 

William III. of Or'ange, and Mary . . 285 

campaign in Ireland 289 

character of 287 

crown offered to 286 

death of 296 

founds hospital and Bank of England 291 

freedom of worship 288 

King William's War 290 

William IV., reign of .... 320,321 

William, Prince, death of 91 

Win'ches-ter, Alfred buried at ... 53 

WIn'dgor Palace, built 165 

Earl of March imprisoned at . . . 174 

residence of Victoria 3*36 

Win'ter, seaman 245 

Wit'e-na-ge-mot ... 37, 47, 55, 61, 64 
Wo'den, Teutonic god .... 32, 33, 36 
Wol'gey, Archbishop of York . . . 208 

Chancellor of State 208 

fall and death of 214 

in Henry VIII. 's divorce case . 212-214 
Wood'stock, estate given to Marlbor- 
ough 293 

Fair Rosamond at 96 

Worees'ter, battle of 270 

World's fair, first 325 

Wren, Sir Christopher, arcbitect . . 280 
Wy'att, executed ........ 229 

Wyc'lif, English reformer . . . . .164 

death of 170, 171 

translates Bible into English . . .170 

York, diaries I. at 264 

Parliament at 142 

Roman camps at 25 

York, Duke of, claims throne . . . 188 

killed 190 

power of 167 

Protector 189 

York, house of 149, 191, 198 

Youns Pretender 300 



Zulus, war with . 
Zut'phen, battle of 



. 334 
. 247 



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